Boston Area Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center

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The Boston Area Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center (BADERC) is a consortium of 69 laboratory-based and clinical investigators whose efforts are directed toward addressing many of the major research questions bearing on the etiology, pathogenesis, treatment and cure of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and their associated microvascular and atherosclerotic complications. The center director {Joseph Avruch) and associates directors (Joel F. Habener and Brian Seed) are highly productive senior investigators of international stature in signal transduction, gene expression, molecular biology and immunology, topics central to advances in diabetes research. The participating scientists are based at a large number of Boston-area research institutions, with the majority at the major Harvard Medical School-affiliated teaching hospitals (the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center) and the Boston University Medical Center, as well as several at the Harvard School of Arts and Sciences, other Harvard-affiliated research institutions (School of Public Health, the Dana-Farber Cancer Center, the Schepens Eye Research Institute), the New England Medical Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These investigators are working at the cutting edge of fields most relevant to defining the pathogenesis and optimal treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes: The molecular and genetic basis of insulin action and insulin resistance; the biology of the vascular system and beta cell; the immunologic basis and optimal therapies for autoimmunity and transplant rejection; the development of new methods for glycernic monitoring and control. The BADERC offers these scientists an array of core support services (Molecular Biology; Cell Biology & Morphology; Transgenics; Radioimmunoassay and Monoclonal Antibody Generation; Fluorescent activated cell sorting; Metabolic Physiology) that incorporate the latest technical advances in molecular genetics, cell biology, and metabolic physiology provided by acknowledged experts. Most cores are heavily oriented towards hands-on training. Considerable expansion and upgrading of these services has occurred over the prior award period, and the utilization of these cost-effective, high quality support services has been robust. A new Proteomics core is proposed, poised to service both laboratory-based and clinical investigators. The BADERC sponsors a highly competitive program of pilot and feasibility grants. The 18 awardees have been productive and have progressed toward independent support at a good rate. The availability of cost effective support services of outstanding quality together with the educational and pilot grants program has catalyzed new programs and collaborations, and attracted to diabetes research new talent from this outstanding scientific community. The center seeks also to foster the closest interactions between the laboratory based and clinical scientists, so as to ensure the translation of research discoveries into advances in the care of diabetic patients.