JDRF/Harvard launch new research partnership

August 23, 2004
BOSTON-The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Harvard Medical School today announced the opening of the JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School, Generously Supported by Marshalls Ten Year Partnership with JDRF.

The Center was developed because advances in the immune tolerance area are critical for finding better treatments, and eventually a cure, for type 1 diabetes. The primary goals of the JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance at Harvard Medical School are:

* understanding how immunological tolerance breaks down to provoke type 1 diabetes
* learning how to re-establish tolerance in order to prevent or cure type 1 diabetes, in particular via islet transplantation
* providing a framework for integrating basic research and clinical endeavors focused on islet transplantation
* serving as a magnet for research on immunological tolerance in type 1 diabetes at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals, and in the Boston area more generally
* becoming a reservoir for new technologies and resources to service the worldwide community of type 1 diabetes researchers.

The new Center will be supported by JDRF with a three-year grant of approximately $5 million.

"We are excited about tackling the critical and very complicated area of immune tolerance," says Raphael Dolin, M.D., Dean for Academic and Clinical Programs at Harvard Medical School. "The Center's scientists are dedicated to learning more about immune tolerance and are acutely aware of its potential impact on islet transplantation, which is a very promising strategy for treating and potentially curing diabetes. We are honored to be working with JDRF to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes."

Type 1 diabetes is caused by a breakdown in immunological tolerance. Specifically, type 1 diabetes results when the body attacks its own insulin-producing beta cells. As such, understanding immunological tolerance is a critical objective for type 1 diabetes researchers.

Co-directors Dr. Diane Mathis and Dr. Christophe O. Benoist are heading the JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School and they will oversee a group of ten laboratories from Harvard and its affiliated institutions.

With the development of this Center they are bringing together complementary expertise in immunology, molecular biology and experimental transplantation. Essentially, the Center is a confederation of eight research projects and three supporting cores, constituting a broad-based basic research program on immunological tolerance in type 1 diabetes.

According to Dr. Mathis, "Christophe and I are delighted to have pulled together such an 'All Star' team for this Center. With our team in place we are confident that, in due time, we will elicit an impressive amount of new information about how the immune system breaks down and provokes the onset of type 1 diabetes. Armed with this new knowledge, we will be that much closer to finding ways to prevent and ultimately cure the disease."

Peter Van Etten, President and CEO of JDRF, further emphasized the power of the new Center when he said, "We are confident that the brilliant scientists affiliated with the new JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School will produce very promising results. We always strive to work with the best the science world has to offer, and I¹m confident that these people are at the very top of their field."

"The other half of this impressive story of discovery and strides for a cure belongs to our partners in fundraising," continued Van Etten. "Today I would especially like to recognize Marshalls as an exceptional corporate partner. This new center is generously supported by Marshalls ten year partnership with JDRF, a partnership which began in 1994 when they raised $22,000 for the Walk. Just three years later in 1997, Marshalls was raising $500,000 a year, and by 2000, their annual donations exceeded $1 million. Now, more than 650 stores participate in 42 states and Puerto Rico, selling JDRF paper sneakers and forming Walk teams. Last year, Marshalls raised a phenomenal $1,275,000, and over the past 10 years, their cumulative contributions have exceeded $7.4 million. So, it¹s safe to say that this Center has been blessed with two 'Dream Teams!'"

Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School has more than 5,000 full-time faculty working in eight academic departments based at the School's Boston quadrangle or in one of 47 academic departments at 18 Harvard teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those Harvard hospitals and research institutions include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Hospital, The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Forsyth Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, VA Boston Healthcare System.

About JDRF
JDRF was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with juvenile diabetes -- a disease that strikes children suddenly, makes them insulin dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Since inception, JDRF has provided more than $800 million to diabetes research worldwide. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and education about research. JDRF's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.