ADA Honors Diabetes Complication Research

Mark E. Cooper, AO, MB BS, PhD, FRACP, has received the American Diabetes Association 2017 Edwin Bierman Award. This award honors scientists who have contributed to the understanding of macrovascular complications and risk factors for patients with diabetes.

Dr Cooper will receive the award during the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) 77th Scientific Sessions, and will deliver the Edwin Bierman Award Lecture, titled “Metabolic Karma—The Atherogenic Legacy of Diabetes,” on Sunday, June 11.

Currently, Dr Cooper is the inaugural head of the Department of Diabetes at Central Clinical School, Monash University, and was previously the chief scientific officer at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia.

Dr Cooper is a well-recognized physician-scientist who led groundbreaking basic, preclinical, and clinical research that have added to the understanding and treatment of kidney and macrovascular complications among patients with diabetes, according to the ADA.

Throughout his career, Dr Cooper has been involved with more than 500 publications that have received more than 40,000 citations. His research uses state-of-the-art molecular approaches to determine underlying mechanisms that drive atherosclerosis in diabetes. This approach serves to discover the epigenetic basis for metabolic memory and to find the role oxidative stress plays in diabetes.

In addition to expansive type 1 and type 2 diabetes clinical trials, Dr Cooper has also trained scientists from around the globe. Numerous fellows, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD that have received training from Dr Cooper have went on to make their mark in diabetes research and practice, according to the ADA.

“Congratulations on this achievement, and thank you for your contributions to our understanding of the macrovascular complications of diabetes,” said Alvin C. Powers, MD, president of Medicine and Science at American Diabetes Association. “Your tremendous body of work, along with the cadre of trainees you’ve prepared for futures in this vital field, have made a lasting impact on our understanding of diabetes and its associated complications.”