Children's Hospital is part of the UPMC family.
Our Sites
Be safe anytime, anywhere.
To find a pediatrician or pediatric specialist, please call 412-692-7337 or search our directory.
A resource for our network of referring physicians.
For more information about research, please call our main office at 412-692-6438.
Ranked in 11 specialties by U.S. News & World Report.
PITTSBURGH – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has awarded a grant of $2.59 million to George Gittes, M.D., director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research and co-scientific director at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, to support continuing development of gene therapy technology that may have the potential to cure Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, which affects approximately 10% of the U.S. population, or more than 34 million people.
“Diabetes gene therapy could eliminate the need for insulin replacement for people with diabetes and holds the potential to provide long-term effectiveness, or even be a cure for diabetic patients,” said Gittes, also chief of pediatric surgery at UPMC Children’s.
Developed by Gittes, the gene therapy technology has restored normal glucose levels in the blood of mice by reprogramming beta cells in the pancreas.
“This funding will continue to support our research in diabetic primates as we move toward human clinical trials,” said Gittes. “We saw encouraging data in our preclinical mice studies, where the gene therapy reprogrammed pancreatic cells to restore normal blood glucose levels in diabetic mice for approximately four months, which could translate to decades in humans. More recently, preliminary results in monkeys also have been very promising.”
This technology is the subject of an exclusive license agreement entered between Genprex and the University of Pittsburgh in February of 2020. Gittes is the inventor of the gene therapy for diabetes, and he is eligible to receive royalties on this technology in the future.
PHOTO INFO: (click image for high-res version)
CREDIT: UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
CAPTION: George Gittes, M.D., director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research and co-scientific director at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Andrea Yorchuck (Kunicky) Senior Manager 412-552-7448 KunickyA@upmc.edu
Erin Hare, Ph.D. Manager, Science Writing 412-738-1097 HareE@upmc.edu
Children's Hospital's main campus is located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. Our main hospital address is:
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh One Children’s Hospital Way 4401 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15224
In addition to the main hospital, Children's has many convenient locations in other neighborhoods throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.
With MyCHP, you can request appointments, review test results, and more.
For questions about a hospital bill call:
To pay your bill online, please visit UPMC's online bill payment system.
Interested in giving to Children's Hospital? Support the hospital by making a donation online, joining our Heroes in Healing monthly donor program, or visiting our site to learn about the other ways you can give back.