SFU professor wins prestigious award for diabetes research

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The Canadian Diabetes Association awarded a prestigious national award on Friday to an SFU professor for her efforts in diabetes research.

Dr. Diane Finegood, who teaches in the Faculty of Applied Sciences, was given the 2008 Frederick G. Banting Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the prevention of diabetes or to improving the quality of life of those with the disease.

The award was announced at the 12th Annual Canadian Diabetes Association and Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism Professional Conference.

Finegood is the founding Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes.

Finegood has focused on obesity and its connection to diabetes.

She is responsible for helping assemble an array of academic disciplines to address obesity and the need for new approaches towards the condition.

Engineer, physiologist, mathematical modeler, diabetes researcher and integrative biologist are among many of Finegood's titles.

Finegood has a "great appreciation of public health issues," said a statement from the association.

The Canadian Diabetes Association works in communities across the country with a goal of promoting the health of Canadians and eliminating diabetes.

Graeme Wood, Vancouver Sun