Davidson Lecture 2026
Professor Patrick MacDonald has been awarded the 2026 John K. and Mary E. Davidson Lectureship and Award from the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto.
Dr. MacDonald’s research focuses on understanding the function of insulin-producing pancreatic islets in health and diabetes (www.bcell.org). He is particularly interested in the relationship between cellular signaling, gene expression, and secretory function. In 2011, Dr. MacDonald founded the ADI IsletCore biobanking program (www.isletcore.ca) which provides human research islets and tissue samples to ~190 groups worldwide, making it one of the largest single sources for this material in the world. Through collaborative efforts, this has led to the release of an online tool facilitating omics data accessibility and analysis (www.humanislets.com). In 2020 he co-founded the Canadian Islet Research and Training Network (www.islets.ca) to enhance training and collaborative opportunities amongst the academic islet biology community in Canada.
Dr. MacDonald’s presentation on May 28th will highlight the evolution of human islet phenotyping efforts at the Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI) IsletCore, a leading biobank program that collects and distributes high-quality human pancreatic islets for research worldwide. By studying these cells from a diverse range of donors, including those with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, the team uses advanced multi-modal single-cell technology to pinpoint exactly how electrical and genetic changes lead to islet cell dysfunction. Through a team science approach, they have integrated this complex biological data into a user-friendly online platform (HumanIslets.com), making it easier for the global research community to collaborate. Ultimately, this work aims to bridge the gap between organ donation and clinical insight, accelerating the development of personalized treatment and prevention strategies for diabetes.
LOCATION: University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Room 2172
