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Joely Kellard

BSc (Hons)


DPhil Student

In 2015 I graduated from The University of Manchester with a BSc in Physiology with a year in industry spent at Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany. Since then I have been on the OXION: Ion Channels and Disease DPhil programme here in Oxford. I am currently working within Patrik Rorsman's lab based at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM).

My project looks at the processes that determine secretion of glucagon from α cells within the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Under normal conditions secretion of glucagon (which acts to raise blood sugar) is stimulated when blood sugar level is low and is inhibited when blood sugar level is high. However, in type 2 diabetes the secretion of glucagon persists when blood sugar level is high therefore contributing to prolonged elevations in blood sugar level. I am interested in the processes that contribute to α cell dysfunction. This includes studying things such as changes in metabolism, electrical activity and calcium signalling within α cells.