“I am working on the Chicago Diabetes Project as I had an opportunity to put in place a team of very able scientists and engineers who work together like a family. We are all in this together, quite simply, because we believe we can contribute to a clinical solution to this disease so that other families, with members suffering from diabetes, can lead a normal life.”
David Hunkeler, Ph.D., General Director, Aquatech, Geneva, Switzerland
October 06, 2009
Recent graduate Shauna Gunaratne, who works in the pancreatic islet cell labs headed by transplant surgeon José Oberholzer, will study the benefits of the traditional Mediterranean diet.
Could a diet centered around foods traditionally served in Mediterranean countries lower the risk of developing diabetes?
A UIC neuroscience student who graduated in May has won a Fulbright Fellowship to explore that possibility this coming academic year at Harokopio University in Athens, Greece.
Shauna Gunaratne, a UIC Honors College graduate who earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in three years, plans to become a physician. She will spend the next year studying components of the traditional Mediterranean diet under the guidance of Harokopio professor Demosthenes Panagiotakos, who conducted a large-scale health and nutritional survey of people living in the Athens area eight years ago.
“Dr. Panagiotakos showed the traditional Mediterranean diet — which includes foods such as whole grains, olive oil and fresh fruits — impedes the development of diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases,” Gunaratne said.
“I’ll be doing data analysis and epidemiological surveys to try to figure out what in the Mediterranean diet is most effective in preventing diabetes.”
Gunaratne’s interest is in diabetes mellitus type 2, or adult onset diabetes — a disease that has reached epidemic levels in the U.S. and is increasing elsewhere, including around the Mediterranean, where more people are turning to processed or fast foods. Part of her research will focus on how changing diets among Greek children may be a concern for development of type 2 diabetes.
“I hope the research underscores to them the great diet that they have,” Gunaratne said.
“If we can figure out what specifically is most beneficial in the Mediterranean diet, perhaps we can use these compounds to develop new drugs, or nutritionists can emphasize to those predisposed to diabetes certain things to eat.”
Gunaratne, whose grandmother has diabetes, has taken an active interest in researching the subject since high school, when she conducted an independent study project.
As a UIC student, she did research in one of the world’s leading pancreatic islet cell labs, headed by José Oberholzer, associate professor of surgery and chief of transplant surgery.
“It’s tragic that type 2 diabetes is becoming epidemic,” she said. “It’s completely preventable with diet and exercise.”
Gunaratne is taking a conversational Greek language course at the College of DuPage before she takes advanced Greek in Athens as part of her Fulbright Fellowship.
She took a three-week course in ancient Greek history there last summer, where she developed a love for the country.
“We never spent time in a classroom. We were always outdoors at the places where history happened.”
A resident of Lisle, Gunaratne was a National Merit Scholar who graduated valedictorian from Lisle High School in 2006.
francuch@uic.edu
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