As we begin a new year, the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) has compiled key conference and grant submission dates for 2026. Conferences are an opportunity for faculty, staff, and trainees to extend their professional network, continue learning, and stay up to date with trending research areas. Travel awards are often available for trainees who intend to present their research. The UCDC encourages researchers to check with the research funding pages of the following organizations for ongoing opportunities as well as reminders from the UCDC and the Diabetes Research Center (DRC) at UAB. American Diabetes Association Breakthrough T1D (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) National Institutes of Health (including NIDDK) Beatson Foundation Cayman Biomedical Research Institute UAB researchers can also subscribe to Research Matters, a weekly newsletter designed to inform the UAB research community of important updates that affect research administration, including new funding opportunities and limited submission announcements. Sign up for Research Matters. NIH Application Due Dates High-level due dates: R01 new: February 5 June 5 October 5 R01 renewal, resubmission, revision: March 5 July 5 November 5   2026 Conference Dates Boshell Research Day April 17 Auburn University Auburn, AL   International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) March 11-14 Barcelona, Spain   Midwest Islet Club May 20-21 Discovery Building Madison, WI   ADA Scientific Sessions June 5–8 Ernest N. Morial Convention Center New Orleans, LA   National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions June 11–14 Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk Chicago, IL   ENDO 2026 June 13-16 McCormick Place West Chicago, IL    International Meeting on Lipid Mediators in Health and Disease August 10-12 Natcher Conference Center Washington, D.C.   26th Annual Diabetes Technology Meeting October 27-29 Hyatt Regency Crystal City Washington, D.C.  

Sushant Bhatnagar, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, has published an extensive review in Comprehensive Physiology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Physiological Society, offering new insights into the cell-specific roles of BAI receptors in health and metabolic disorders.

The UAB Department of Medicine (DOM) recognized UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) members, Fernando Bril, M.D., Alexandra Dodd, M.D., and Kirk Habegger, Ph.D., at DOM Recognition Day 2025.

Thi Yen Ly Huynh, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Ramanadham Lab at the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC), was granted a travel award to present at the Southeastern Regional Lipid Conference (SERLC) in Asheville, North Carolina, Nov. 5-7, 2025.

UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office (LDO) honored 33 graduates of the Emerging Leaders Series (ELS) fall 2025 Cohort 4 during a ceremony held on Thursday, Nov. 12. The cohort completed a multi-session program designed to strengthen leadership capability for emerging leaders across the enterprise.

Meet Adam Wende, Ph.D., Professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology in the Heersink School of Medicine Department of Pathology. His work has been funded by the American Heart Association, Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), and most recently the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH.

In honor of Diabetes Awareness Month, we caught up with Nicole Johnson, DrPH, the first Miss America with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), who now calls Birmingham home. Johnson shares her story of living with T1D since age 19 and how it has shaped her lifelong career of advocacy and education.

Haifa Alsharif, Ph.D., said working under the mentorship of Sushant Bhatnagar, Ph.D., in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) shaped her scientific path and deepened her appreciation for metabolic and diabetes research.

Rithvikha Nair, a senior studying in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC), has received a 2025 undergraduate fellowship program funding award from Cayman Biomedical Research Institute (CABRI) to support her research in Type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Thi Yen Ly Huynh, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Ramanadham Lab at the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC), was selected as a finalist for the Outstanding Young Scientist Awards to be presented at the International Meeting on Lipid Mediators in Health and Disease.

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center Scientist Kirk Habegger, Ph.D., will speak at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) glucagon physiology workshop, Feb. 9-10, 2026.

Kirk Habegger, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine in the UAB Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, has received funding from Eli Lilly and Company to continue investigation of glucagon receptor activation in incretin-based obesity therapies.

UAB diabetes researchers presented their latest work on an international stage at the 61st Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 15-19.

Ben Gran is the lab manager for both Dr. Rita Basu and Dr. Ananda Basu who are clinical diabetes researchers at the UCDC. Gran has been with the Basu Lab for a decade supporting cutting-edge diabetes research studies. 

Health care providers from across the state and region gathered to learn about diabetes, thyroid disorders, osteoporosis, and more at the 2025 UAB Endocrinology Update, Aug. 23, at Hilton Birmingham Downtown at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Amy Warriner, M.D., professor in the Department of Medicine, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Brewer-Heslin Award for Professionalism in Medicine.

According to the 2025-2026 rankings released in July, UAB Medicine ranked nationally in five adult specialties and high performing in seven other specialties including diabetes and endocrinology.

A new study led by UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center Associate Scientist Fernando Bril, M.D., provides the first evidence that MASLD prevalence is beginning to decrease in adults with diabetes in the U.S. for the first time in decades. However, this good news is overshadowed by the significant increase observed in liver fibrosis.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham startup TIXiMED, Inc., has successfully completed a Phase 1 single ascending dose study of the drug TIX100 in humans, marking a key milestone in the development of a first-of-its kind oral therapy for Type 1 diabetes (T1D).

UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) researchers have contributed to the Frontiers in Endocrinology Research Topic on Disease-Modifying Approaches in Type 1 Diabetes.