Revealed the potential for gut hormones to achieve dramatic clinical outcomes in the treatment of life-limiting and life-threatening metabolic and intestinal disorders
Short bowel syndrome, a disorder affecting newborns and adults recovering from major intestinal resection, has increased more than two-fold in the last 40 years, reflecting complications in babies born prematurely, and an increase in surgical interventions for severe Crohn’s disease. Dr. Drucker’s discoveries helped to develop teduglutide, a GLP-2-based medication, providing long-term therapy for the treatment of adults and children. Approximately one of every five patients on teduglutide in the real world has completely discontinued intravenous feeding, leading to remarkable improvement in quality of life. Dr. Drucker has also contributed to the development of new classes of therapeutic medications for type 2 diabetes and obesity, prescribed to more than a hundred million patients worldwide and transforming the treatment of metabolic disease. A profoundly gifted laboratory researcher, Dr. Drucker has personally translated advanced scientific discoveries into real-world clinical applications, substantially improving the lives of patients. A much-honoured clinical-scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute of Mt. Sinai Hospital, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Drucker’s laboratory studies have revolutionized the treatment of metabolic disorders and exemplify exceptional bench-to-beside translation of scientific research.
