Our research impact

Challenge 

Dr Tongzhi Wu, from Adelaide Medical School, has been funded by Diabetes Australia to conduct research into the critical role of the small intestine in controlling blood glucose, food absorption, and metabolic health.  

Bold idea 

Dr Wu’s work is based on the premise that gut function can be harnessed to improve diabetes management and reduce cardiometabolic risk. His vision was to define new, safe, and cost-effective pathways for therapies, leveraging the power of both existing medications, such as the most widely used anti-diabetic drug metformin, and physiological substances, including bile acids and nutritional compounds.  

Impact  

The studies conducted by Dr Wu’s team have revealed new actions of metformin and have influenced international treatment recommendations for metformin use, opening new pathways for therapies that could improve diabetes management and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. His clinical research has also demonstrated potent effects of physiological bile acids to stimulate the release of the gut hormone GLP-1, suppress appetite and improve postprandial glucose control in both healthy individuals and people living with type 2 diabetes. 

This insight is driving development of new bile acid-based treatments for obesity and diabetes, now in early clinical trials. These advances have secured $2.7 million in additional research funding for Dr Wu to continue his groundbreaking studies. 

Learn more about diabetes research and our research impact.