Meet the research leaders in diabetes
Professor Jenny Couper MB ChB MD, FRACP
Professor Couper is the Director of the Children's Research Centre and leader of its Diabetes Stream. She is also McGregor Reid Professor of Paediatrics and Head of the Discipline of Paediatrics at the University of Adelaide.
In addition, Professor Couper is a practicing paediatric endocrinologist and Head of the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Women's and Children's Hospital, which cares for over 2,000 children and adolescents with diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
Professor Couper is the recipient of the 2010 Robert Vines Medal for Clinical Excellence in Paediatric Endocrinology, which recognises the outstanding contribution she has made to clinical training and research in the area of endocrinology and type 1 diabetes.
Contact Professor Jenny Couper
Dr Alexia Peña MD PhD, FRACP
Dr Peña is a clinical lecturer in the School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health and is also a Paediatric Endocrinologist in the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Women's and Children's Hospital.
In 2008 Dr Peña received the Young Investigator Award from the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society for her outstanding research into early cardiovascular complications of obese children. Prior to that she was the recipient of the 2007 MS McLeod Advanced Medical Trainee Medal for Excellence in Research, awarded by the Children, Youth and Women's Health Service for Alexia's research into the blood vessel function of children with type 1 diabetes.
Dr Peña is currently investigating ways to prevent the development of cardiovascular disease in children with type 1 diabetes and obesity. She and her colleagues in the Diabetes Stream have already proven that children with obesity and children with type 1 diabetes have similar abnormalities in blood vessel function. In addition they have shown that folic acid and vitamin B6 improve blood vessel function in children with type 1 diabetes.
