Season 2, Episode 11: From Bedside Questions to Global Trials with Dr. Hertzel Gerstein
In this episode of the Emerging Scholar, we sit down with internationally renowned diabetes researcher Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, Professor at McMaster University and Deputy Director of the Population Health Research Institute. Long before continuous glucose monitors made blood sugar a mainstream health metric, clinicians worried far more about hypoglycemia than the long-term consequences of elevated glucose. At the time, the relationship between dysglycemia and cardiovascular disease was poorly understood, and cardiology and endocrinology largely operated in separate worlds.
Dr. Gerstein helped bridge that divide. Guided by questions that emerged directly from patient care, his work has led to some of the most influential diabetes and cardiovascular outcomes trials of the past several decades, including HOPE Trial, ACCORD Trial, ORIGIN Trial, and REWIND Trial. These landmark studies helped redefine how clinicians understand the relationship between glucose regulation and cardiovascular risk and have shaped diabetes guidelines around the world.
In this conversation, Dr. Gerstein reflects on the origins of those studies, the importance of asking simple but important clinical questions, and how listening carefully to patients can spark research that changes global practice. For trainees and early-career researchers, his story offers a powerful reminder: impactful scientific careers often begin not with a grand plan, but with a question you simply cannot let go of.
More insight into this great interview, and the foundational work underlying it can be found in this post on our Substack!
Papers & Resources That We Touched On In This Episode:
Mentorship & Early Work
- Mentorship on Thyroid Disease with Dr. Robert Volpe
- Systematic Review of Cow’s Milk
- Family Willingness to Participate in a Cow’s Milk Trial
Landmark Diabetes & Cardiovascular Trials
- Early Trials With Salim Yusif: HOPE Trial Link 1 | HOPE Trial Link 2 | HOPE Trial Link 3
- DCCT – Intensive Diabetes Treatment & Long-Term Complications
- ACCORD Trial – Intensive Glucose Lowering & Cardiovascular Outcomes
- ORIGIN Trial
- Remission of Type 2 Diabetes with Bariatric Surgery
Methods & Summaries
Research Networks
Guests
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Dr. Hertzel Gerstein
Dr. Hertzel Gerstein is an endocrinologist and Professor at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Ontario, where he holds the Population Health Research Institute Chair in Diabetes. A global leader in diabetes research, Dr. Gerstein helped pioneer the large-scale, long-term outcomes trials that have become the gold standard for evidence-based diabetes care.
Over his career, he has designed and led randomized controlled trials involving more than 90,000 people with diabetes or prediabetes, identifying therapies that meaningfully reduce complications and improve survival. His work has been published in more than 550 scientific papers and has an h-index of 95. Dr. Gerstein has played leadership roles in several landmark international trials, including HOPE Trial, ACCORD Trial, DREAM Trial, ORIGIN Trial, and REWIND Trial.
Dr. Gerstein completed his medical degree at the University of Toronto before moving to McMaster University, where he earned a Master of Science in epidemiology and began a career that bridges clinical care and population health research. His work has helped establish dysglycemia—abnormal glucose levels—as a key predictor of cardiovascular disease risk and has shaped modern approaches to diabetes prevention and treatment.
He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Population Health Research Institute and Director of the Diabetes Care and Research Program at Hamilton Health Sciences. In recognition of his contributions to science and medicine, Dr. Gerstein was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and received the 2022 American Diabetes Association Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award.
Outside of research and clinical work, Dr. Gerstein enjoys musical theatre and songwriting, penning songs that are inspired by his passion for science and public health.