The Diabetes Institute was founded in March 1998 to create a research center that is entirely dedicated to the single focus of understanding, preventing and finding a cure for diabetes. The purpose of the Institute is threefold:
- To provide the Institute’s funded research scientists with state-of-the-art technology and expertise in molecular biology, immunology, virology, imaging and statistics;
- To encourage and recruit scientists from around the world to join in the Institute’s efforts to understand the causes of diabetes and, using new findings, to apply better approaches to diabetes therapy; and
- To provide access to funding that will attract scientists to the Institute to study diabetes and
encourage young investigators to study different aspects of the disease.
The location of the Diabetes Institute allows meaningful collaboration among scientists at world-class medical institutions including the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Magee-Womens’ Hospital and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Diabetes labs have been established at many of these locations.
Research at the Diabetes Institute is focused on four major topics:
- Type 1 or Insulin-Dependent Diabetes,
- Type 2 or Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes, and
- The complications associated with diabetes
Funding for the Institute comes from hospitals, philanthropic gifts and government grants.To enhance the research efforts of its investigators, the Institute provides support in several core areas—molecular biology, immunology, imaging and biostatistics. The Institute also serves an educational function by providing special seminars, training programs and workshops and through periodic, formal meetings in which members of the Institute present their collaborative results to a scientific advisory board.
