10
NEWS
Eye imaging and kidney health
New research presented at Diabetes
UK's Professional Conference 2025
held in February, has revealed
that using AI to analyse photos
taken during routine diabetes eye
screenings can predict whether
people with Type 2 diabetes are
likely to develop chronic kidney
disease years before symptoms arise
or current tests are able to detect
kidney problems, allowing for earlier
intervention and treatment.
Diabetes-related kidney disease
can develop silently over many
years, often going undetected until it
becomes severe. One in five people
with diabetes will need treatment for
kidney disease during their lifetime.
In the UK, everyone living with
diabetes over the age of 12 is regularly
invited to have their eyes screened,
where photos are taken of the retina
to spot signs of damage. In the new
study, researchers at the Universities
of Dundee and Glasgow developed
an AI tool using nearly 1m eye
screening photographs from almost
100,000 people with Type 2 diabetes
in Scotland. Photographs were
linked with existing data on kidney
health, and the AI tool was trained
to distinguish between images
from people with or without kidney
disease. The tool was then validated
with data from almost 30,000 other
people with Type 2 diabetes.
The AI tool detected existing
kidney disease with 86% accuracy.
In people without kidney disease, it
was also able to predict who would go
on to develop it in the next five years
with 78% accuracy. Critically, the
AI outperformed traditional kidney
function tests, detecting future
kidney disease risk in individuals
where standard testing provided no
warning.
LDC director gets award
Leicester Diabetes Centre director Professor Melanie Davies CBE, has been chosen
to receive a 2025 National Scientific and Health Care Achievement Award from the
American Diabetes Association (ADA).
The awards honour academics, health care providers and educators who have
contributed to substantial advances in diabetes care and research.
Melanie's 2025 Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award,
recognises exceptional contributions in patient-oriented clinical outcomes research
that have had a significant impact on diabetes prevention and treatment. Melanie
is only the second woman to receive this prestigious award, and is the first woman
outside of the USA to do so.
Melanie Davies is Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester,
an Honorary Consultant Diabetologist at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS
Trust and Director of the NIHR Leicester BRC. She is a world-leading researcher
with over 960 original published articles on the causes, screening, prevention, selfmanagement
and treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Professor Davies' research is driven
by her clinical experience and the voices of people living with diabetes and includes
screening for Type 2 diabetes, prevention, self-management, 24-hour physical
behaviors, and novel therapies for Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
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