The global prevalence of diabetes has almost doubled in the past 30 years and represents a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. Current treatments for diabetes are not completely effective, and some are associated with adverse side effects. To meet this challenge, the Diabetes Research Group at Ulster conduct focused and world-leading research, that ultimately promises to result in impressive clinical benefits. The Research Group activities are directed into four main themes, that include: (i) insulin secretion and gene therapy, (ii) antidiabetic actions of structurally modified peptides, (iii) discovery, targets and action of antidiabetic drugs and (iv) mechanisms of pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction. To date, this ground-breaking work has resulted in a number of important research discoveries leading to development of a strong patent portfolio and intellectual property. Our continued growth offers new PhD students excellent opportunities within and across these various disciplines. Importantly, the track record of research training in diabetes at Ulster is exceptional. State-of-the-art equipment and expertise is available in a number of modern areas of biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology and peptide chemistry.