Dr. Heidi De Wet

Biography

Heidi de Wet received her Bachelor of Science degree from North West University, South Africa, and was awarded a DPhil from the University of Cape Town (UCT) Medical School in 2000. She moved to the University of Oxford in 2003 to pursue post-doctoral studies and subsequently joined Professor Frances Ashcroft's group. During her doctoral work in the Department of Chemical Pathology at UCT, she introduced ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family membrane transporters. Her research has consistently focused on transporters, particularly looking at neonatal diabetes, a rare form of type 2 diabetes, and the dysfunctional ABC transporters involved in this disease. More recently, her focus has shifted to studying the role of ABC transporters in gut endocrine K- and L-cells, which are involved in nutrient sensing within the small intestine and the subsequent secretion of appropriate peptide hormones that regulate essential physiological responses to food intake.

Research Interests