Thomas Wolever, PhD, DM (Oxon)
University of Toronto

Dr. Thomas Wolever  is well-known for his revolutionary work in establishing the glycemic index (GI) methodology.  His efforts were instrumental to placing GI in diabetes guidelines worldwide, including those released by Diabetes Canada and Diabetes Australia. GI has become one of the central dietary principles taught to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients and is incorporated into their daily regimens for glucose control. It is also one of few examples of academic research that has had a growing impact on the food industry.  

Our understanding on dietary fibre was also largely strengthened by Dr. Wolever’s work. He was the first to demonstrate a correlation between fibre viscosity and glycemic response (Jenkins, Wolever, et al. BMJ 1978). He also ran a series of ground-breaking trials exploring colonic fermentation of dietary fibre and established relationships between short chain free fatty acids and novel cardiometabolic risk factors (Wolever et al. Am J Gastroenterol 1989; Freeland and Wolever Brit J Nutr 2010). His group was the first to show colonic adaptation to dietary fibre (Wolever et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2002; Wolever lab. Brit J Nutr 2010), which was a remarkable discovery ahead of its time and its merited attention is overdue. 

Dr. Wolever established Glycemic Index Testing, Inc. in 1997 to provide confidential testing of GI of foods. He was determined to provide an avenue by which GI can be brought to patients’ tables, so started his company without financial support from the university. To meet demand, Dr. Wolever grew the company to include partners and rebranded as GI Laboratories and then INQUIS Clinical Research, Ltd. Tom has made a tremendous impact on the food industry by lowering the glycemic index of many foods that are available to public right off supermarket shelves.

Dr. Wolever has been appointed to numerous expert panels including with the American Diabetes Association, FDA, FAO/WHO and ILSI Europe. He has also served as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition and European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the National Consultant Editor for the Canadian Journal of Diabetes. He was  appointed to the St. Michael’s Hospital Research Ethics Board form nearly 10 years. Throughout his career, Dr. Wolever  has remained objective in science and has raised the bar for rigorous statistical methodology in nutrition research, including very valuable work demonstrating the effect of GI at different levels of dietary fat and protein. 

During his 33 years as a Professor at the University of Toronto's Department of Nutritional Sciences, Dr. Wolever was an outstanding mentor to graduate students and fellow faculty.  He developed and taught the course “Dietary Carbohydrates and the Glycaemic Index in Health and Disease”. Along with his other clinical nutrition lectures within the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Medicine, Dr. Wolever was awarded the University of Toronto Sustained Excellence in Graduate Teaching & Mentorship Award in 2013. Dr. Wolever maintains a prolific research output with over 50 publications and 12,000+ citations since 2019. A leader in diabetes management, his enduring contributions significantly impact public health.