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A lifetime pursuit of diabetes through chance

Paul Z Zimmet
Med J Aust 2009; 191 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb03359.x
Published online: 7 December 2009

When I took a call from MJA Editor Martin Van Der Weyden asking me to write a “Power of One” article for the Christmas issue of the Journal, I was excited and honoured. Here was an opportunity to reflect on the drivers and influences that led me first into medicine, then diabetes and public health advocacy.




Correspondence: 

  • 1. Herzog P. In the shadow of the black eagle: memories of Tarnopol in 1939–1945. Tel Aviv: Yaron Golan, 1996.
  • 2. Hetzel BS. The challenge of public health in Australia and the region. Med J Aust 2006; 185: 646-650. <MJA full text>
  • 3. Zimmet P, Breidahl HD. Intestinal lymphangiectasia with hypomagnesaemic tetany. Australas Ann Med 1968; 17: 265-269.
  • 4. Zimmet P, Breidahl HD, Nayler WG. Plasma ionized calcium in hypomagnesaemia. Br Med J 1968; 1: 622-623.
  • 5. Ng FM, Zimmet PZ, Seiler G, et al. Insulin potentiating action of a peptide fraction from human urine. Diabetes 1974; 23: 950-956.
  • 6. Paule SG, Nikolovski B, Gray RE, et al. GHTD-amide: a naturally occurring beta cell-derived peptide with hypoglycemic activity. Peptides 2009; 30: 955-961.
  • 7. Prior IA, Rose BS, Harvey HP, Davidson F. Hyperuricaemia, gout, and diabetic abnormality in Polynesian people. Lancet 1966; 1: 333-338.
  • 8. Zimmet P, Taft P, Guinea A, et al. The high prevalence of diabetes mellitus on a Central Pacific island. Diabetologia 1977; 13: 111-115.
  • 9. Koestler A. The call-girls. London: Pan Books, 1976.
  • 10. Tuomi T, Groop LC, Zimmet PZ, et al. Antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase reveal latent autoimmune diabetes mellitus in adults with a non-insulin-dependent onset of disease. Diabetes 1993; 42: 359-362.
  • 11. Hettiarachchi KD, Zimmet PZ, Myers MA. Transplacental exposure to bafilomycin disrupts pancreatic islet organogenesis and accelerates diabetes onset in NOD mice. J Autoimmun 2004; 22: 287-296.
  • 12. Dowse GK, Gareeboo H, Zimmet PZ, et al. High prevalence of NIDDM and impaired glucose intolerance in Indian, Creole, and Chinese Mauritians. Diabetes 1990; 39: 390-396.
  • 13. Zimmet P, Alberti KG, Shaw J. Global and societal implications of the diabetes epidemic. Nature 2001; 414: 782-787.
  • 14. Barnett M, Collier GR, Collier FM, et al. A cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal characterisation of NIDDM in Psammomys obesus. Diabetologia 1994; 37: 671-676.
  • 15. McCarty DJ, Zimmet P, Dalton A, et al. The rise and rise of diabetes in Australia, 1996: a review of statistics, trends and costs. Canberra: International Diabetes Institute and Diabetes Australia, 1996.
  • 16. Dunstan DW, Zimmet PZ, Welborn TA, et al. The rising prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study. Diabetes Care 2002; 25: 829-834.
  • 17. Gregory AT, Armstrong RM, Grassi TD, et al. On our selection: Australian longitudinal research studies. Med J Aust 2008; 189: 650-657.
  • 18. Rudd K. Australia 2020 — setting our nation’s sights for the future. Address to the Sydney Institute Annual Dinner 2008 [transcript]. 16 April 2008. http://www.pm.gov.au/node/5836 (accessed Nov 2009).
  • 19. Sicree R, Shaw J, Zimmet P. The global burden of diabetes. Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance: prevalence and projections. In: Gan D, editor. Diabetes atlas. 2nd ed. Brussels: International Diabetes Federation, 2003: 15-71.
  • 20. National Preventative Health Taskforce. Australia: the healthiest country by 2020. National Preventative Health Strategy. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2009.

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