AN OXFORD scientist who has spent decades researching diabetes has been awarded a prestigious $100,000 prize.

Prof Frances Ashcroft, a professor of physiology at Oxford University and fellow of Trinity College, is only the third British woman ever to be named European Laureate in the L’Oreal – UNESCO For Women in Science Awards.

Among her achievements, Prof Ashcroft discovered a link between a rise in blood sugar level after eating to the secretion of insulin.

And working with Prof Andrew Hattersley, from Exeter University, she discovered that children born with a rare genetic mutation who had previously relied on insulin injections could in fact be treated with a pill.

Hundreds of children have been able to switch from injected insulin to pills thanks to the discovery, giving them better control of their condition and a better quality of life. Prof Ashcroft, 59, said: “I’m very honoured to be awarded this prize but it’s not just for me.

“In science no-one works alone and I have been very fortunate to have a team of truly wonderful people who have worked with me in my lab, and some outstanding collaborators over the years.”

The initial breakthrough when Prof Ashcroft discovered a protein linking glucose rises to insulin secretion was in 1984.

But it was not until 2004, after years of painstaking research including a decade getting the correct DNA sequence, that it was discovered that patients with the rare mutation could be treated in a different way.

Prof Ashcroft said: “As a scientist you do science because it excites you and want to know the answer to something. You never expect to make a difference to people’s lives and the fact we have been able to do so has been so rewarding and so humbling.”

Previously children born with diabetes were thought to have type 1 diabetes, which requires life-long insulin treatment.

But Prof Ashcroft and Prof Hattersley’s research showed that actually in a very small number of cases, the children had type 2 diabetes, which can be treated with sulphonylurea drugs.

Her research now focuses on the other problems faced by people born with this type of diabetes, who in some cases learn to walk and talk late and suffer from conditions including epilepsy and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Prof Ashcroft said she had not yet decided what to do with her prize money – worth about £67,000 – but promised to spend it wisely.

Along with Prof Ashcroft, a laureate winner was selected from Africa and the Arab States, Asia, Latin America and North America, with nominations coming from a network of 1,000 members of the international scientific community.

She will receive her prize at a ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in March.