Doctor credits God for his discoveries

Diabetes researcher Dr. Ray Rajotte named to the Order of Canada

- photo supplied Dr. Ray Rajotte's Edmonton Protocol gave diabetics 'better treatment.'

By RAMON GONZALEZ
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

Diabetes leaves the body unable to produce its own insulin, a hormone that regulates sugar in the blood. Type 1 diabetics must inject themselves daily with insulin.

But that changed in the late 1990s when a team from the University of Alberta, led by Dr. Ray Rajotte, isolated islets - clusters of insulin-producing cells from donated pancreas - and transplanted them into the livers of patients with Type 1 diabetes.

The procedure, known as the Edmonton Protocol, frees most patients from the need for daily injections. Once implanted in their livers, the beta cells in these islets begin to make and release insulin.

The transplant, hailed as the biggest advance in research since the discovery of insulin, has been performed on 100 Canadians since 1999. Hundreds more worldwide have received the treatment.

Rajotte, a member of St. Thomas More Parish, was recently named to the Order of Canada in recognition of his work on islet transplantation, a field in which he has been involved for the past 35 years.

Fantastic!

"It's great," Rajotte said in a recent interview. "Being an Albertan and being a Canadian, it's great to be recognized in this way. It's fantastic, actually."

Rajotte's Order of Canada nomination also cites his exceptional service as a mentor to generations of Alberta scientists and surgeons. Many of the graduate students he has mentored over the years are now academics at the University of Alberta and across Canada and are leaders in the field.

Gina Rayat, who was mentored by Rajotte, is now a diabetes researcher and an assistant professor in the department of surgery.

"He is the most wonderful person anyone could ever meet," Rayat said of his colleague. "He is totally unselfish. He's always been there for me and not just for me, but all his trainees and that's his devotion. He is the perfect example of Christianity because he does not think of himself first."

Credits God

Rajotte credits God for his good fortune.

"I'm a firm believer that God put you here for a purpose and he gives you certain talents and you hope that you can use those talents the best you can to help humanity," he said. "I'm very fortunate that I have certain talents and I have tried to use those talents the best I could."

He is humble about his achievements, stressing that all his work is part of a team effort with other scientists. "Research is not one individual; it's usually a large team and I have a large team."

Among other duties, Rajotte spearheaded the Alberta Diabetes Institute, Canada's largest diabetes research centre, which partially opened in November. The $300-million institute at the University of Alberta will bring leading researchers under one roof to find ways of preventing, treating and ultimately curing the disease.

Rajotte is 65 this year and because of compulsory retirement policies the university had until six months ago, he had to resign as scientific director of the institute. Dr. Ronald Gill of the University of Colorado replaced him in the position, but Rajotte will continue to work. "I'll do a post-retirement contract so I can continue on in my research."

Raised on a farm outside Wainwright, Rajotte attended Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask., where he was deeply influenced by the words of Father Athol Murray, who urged each student to "set high goals for yourself."

From Murray he also learned to be a strong ecumenist and to respect all faiths. This has served him well over the years, as he has had graduate students from all over the world and virtually every denomination.

"I think it is interesting that diabetes doesn't differentiate if you are Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist or Jewish," he said. "So even though I'm a strong Christian I have always been very sensitive to other faiths and cultures."

Rajotte moved to Edmonton in 1965 to attend the X-ray technologist program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and was part of its first graduating class. During his early years working at the Edmonton General Hospital Ray met his wife Gloria, a nurse, whom he married in 1966. She used to make $450 a month and supported Rajotte for 13 years while he completed his doctoral work. The couple has two grown sons and a daughter.

Biomedical engineering

At the General, Rajotte also met Dr. George Bondar, who involved him in research projects at the hospital. Rajotte's work developed into an interest in biomedical engineering and he decided to further his education at the University of Alberta. He tailored his studies to both medicine and engineering, earning masters in electrical engineering. He completed a doctorate in biomedical engineering in 1975.

Rajotte's research in cryobiology took a significant turn early in his career when he attended a presentation on islets, the small structures in the pancreas responsible for insulin production. Driven by curiosity, he began experimenting with ways to freeze islets for future use in research or transplantation.

Rajotte completed postdoctoral training at several top research laboratories in the United States and was recruited back to the University of Alberta in the mid-1970s to join the departments of surgery and medicine.

In 1982 he started the islet transplant group, a team of clinical scientists with the skills to successfully transplant islets into patients suffering from type1 diabetes. In 1989, his team carried out Canada's first islet transplant, using technology Rajotte developed during his doctoral work.

Their third transplant patient enjoyed long-term insulin independence. By 1999, the islet transplantation group demonstrated a 100-per-cent success rate in freeing severe diabetics from insulin injections. Transplantation centres worldwide have adopted the Edmonton Protocol.

Vaccine answer

"People often ask if islet transplantation is a cure, but in actual fact I always look at it as a better treatment," Rajotte said. "To me a cure would be when we develop a vaccine, like the polio vaccine."

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