Kaberi Dasgupta Email Address

Associate Professor of Medicine

The McGill University Alumni Association of New York connects over 5,000 alumni in NYC through social outings and networking events.

My research focus is the prevention, reversal, and management of diabetes: (i) Step count prescription: a novel strategy. I led a randomized controlled trial that demonstrated a clinic visit-integrated physician step count prescription strategy increased steps/day and improved glycemic control in type 2 diabetes and/or hypertension (SMARTER; CIHR; Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, 2017). The strategy was integrated into the 2018 Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines. (ii) Shared diabetes risk in couples. My team and I demonstrated spousal concordance in type 2 diabetes (BMC Medicine, 2014). Our review spurred multiple studies between 2015 and 2019 across the world. The importance of spousal concordance has become well-appreciated as a lever for behavioural change within the family. (iii) GDM and GH as diabetes predictors in mothers – and fathers. We were the first to demonstrate that gestational diabetes mellitus and gestational hypertension predict incident diabetes not only in mothers but also in fathers (Diabetes Care, 2015; American Journal of Epidemiology, 2017. The importance of this work was recognized as a tool to promote diabetes prevention in young families. (iii) GDM as a risk signal for type 1 diabetes in offspring. We demonstrated GDM to be a strong risk indicator for incident diabetes in children and youth (CMAJ, 2019). While previous studies have demonstrated higher insulin resistance, obesity, and type 2 diabetes in offspring of mothers with GDM, ours is among the first to demonstrate a specific association between GDM and type 1 in offspring. (iv) Core outcome set for Diabetes After Pregnancy prevention initiatives. I co-led an international initiative to delineate key outcomes for evaluation of initiatives that aim to reduce incident diabetes following a pregnancy complicated by GDM (CIHR). The final report (BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care, 2020) captured outcomes that reflected not only disease development and physiological effects but also patient-oriented outcomes, health behaviours, and context. (v) Stigma in youth with type 1 diabetes and building a virtual peer network. With funding from Diabetes Canada, we conducted a nation-wide that demonstrated 65% of youth with type 1 diabetes experienced stigma and its presence was associated with poor glycemic control (Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2018). Through CIHR and Diabetes Canada funding, we built a Virtual Patient Network (VPN) for peer support that now includes over 220 members.