The Boston Area Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center

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DESCRIPTION, OVERALL (provided by applicant): The Boston Area Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center (BADERC) is a consortium of 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, including 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 Harvard-affiliated research institutions (the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health, the Scheppens Eye Research Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), the Boston University Medical Center, 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 islet of Langerhan's; the immunologic basis and optimal therapies for autoimmunity and transplant rejection; the development of new methods for glycemic monitoring and control. The BADERC offers these scientists an array of core support services (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology/Morphology, Transgenics, Immunology/Flow Cytometry and Metabolic Physiology) that incorporate the latest technical advances in molecular genetics, cell biology, and metabolic physiology provided by acknowledged experts. In the coming interval, facilitated access for BADERC investigators to several platforms of the Broad institute has been arranged (Genetic Analysis, Proteomics, Metabolomics and RNAi). Most BADERC cores are heavily oriented towards hands-on training. The BADERC also supports a highly subscribed pilot and feasibility grant program. The easy access to cost effective support services of outstanding quality together with the educational and pilot grants program has promoted many collaborations, and attracted to diabetes research new talent from this outstanding scientific community. Finally, it is a goal of the center 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.