User:Jme17/The Chicago Diabetes Project

The Chicago Diabetes Project is an international research consortium of over 20 scientists, in 6 countries, on 3 continents.

The mission of the Chicago Diabetes Project is to make islet cell transplantation the most promising treatment for diabetes today, and a viable option for all who suffer with diabetes.

Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions.

In 1985 there were 30 million diabetics. Today the number has skyrocketed to more than 197 million. By the year 2025, diabetes is likely to affect more than 300 million people worldwide.

This condition leads to serious medical complications including amputations, blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and stroke. Diabetes may soon become the world’s leading cause of death.

The need for a cure is critical, and a group of world-renowned experts is racing toward the solution.

The Chicago Diabetes Project is the first scientific collaboration of its kind. Physicians, scientists, engineers, chemists and molecular biologists from three continents have a common goal… to develop a functional cure for diabetes.

History
In the last 20 years, a vast amount of scientific knowledge has been gathered about how insulin-producing cells develop, function and survive in the normal human body and how they become compromised and destroyed in diabetic patients. In recent years, interest in diabetes has intensified because it is nearing epidemic proportions. In 1985 there were 30 million diabetics, and today that number has skyrocketed to more than 197 million. By 2025, diabetes is likely to affect 300 million people worldwide.

To hasten the possibility of researchers finding a functional cure for diabetes, the developed the idea of having researchers from around the world come together to form the Chicago Diabetes Project, a group of highly qualified scientists and their teams who committed themselves to achieving a functional cure for diabetes as soon as possible.

The Chicago Diabetes Project began in 2004 and has become a marquee medical research initiative for the University of Illinois Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1935.

Dr. José Oberholzer, the coordinator and director of cell transplantation at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, is the director of the Chicago Diabetes Project. Dr. Oberholzer and the other Chicago Diabetes Project leaders strongly believe that the scientific community has all the necessary ingredients to make cell-based therapy an option for the majority of diabetic patients.

Chicago Diabetes Project team members are using a collaborative model to achieve a cure. By freely exchanging knowledge, team members have created a scientific alliance between institutions, a coalition that will provide for more direct and noncompetitive funding to accelerate finding a functional cure for diabetes.

Participating Research Institutions
The Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research - Sydney, Australia

Aquatech, Inc. - Geneva, Switzerland

The Cleveland Clinic - Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Geneva School of Medicine - Geneva, Switzerland

Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislavia, Slovakia

Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, Maryland

University of Illinois at Chicago - Chicago, Illinois, USA

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

University of Lille - Lille, France

University of Trondheim - Trondheim, Norway

Philanthropic Support
Since 2004, the University of Illinois at Chicago Division of Transplantation has performed 17 successful islet cell transplant procedures. Of these patients, 14 of them are enjoying a new life free of daily insulin injections. We at the CDP believe this gift is priceless. These patients require an immunosuppresive regiment to maintain insulin independence. The Chicago Diabetes Project when successful will eliminate the need for immunosuppressant drugs. The Chicago Diabetes Project research will enable us to move forward in continuing phase 3 clinical trials that will help bring this gift of insulin independence to diabetics throughout the world.

The Chicago Diabetes Project progress is dependent on philanthropic gifts. Individuals, corporations, foundations and organizations have provided support for our global research team to advance their studies in islet cell regeneration and cell encapsulation.

Private gifts are making our research possible. However, there is much work that needs to be accomplished to develop a functional cure without the use of immunosuppressant drugs. You can help make this a reality. You can make a difference for individuals with diabetes and be a part of this global effort to develop a functional cure. You can join us by making a tax-deductible gift to the Chicago Diabetes Project. There are no overhead or administrative costs deducted from gifts. Every dollar contributed directly supports our research; and every dollar helps us to make research advances.

Gifts can be made to The Chicago Diabetes Project in honor of a special event (Birthday, Anniversary, Promotion, Retirement, and Holiday) or in memory of a loved one. Please indicate this information when making your gift so we can notify the recipient of your tribute. Gifts can be made online or by mail. If you would like to submit a contribution in the mail, please complete the form on the following page. Online gifts can be made on the secure website:.

All US gifts are tax-deductible and are received and receipted by the University of Illinois Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. 100% of your gift is designated to The Chicago Diabetes Project.

For questions and additional information about making a contribution please contact:

Patricia Wager

Executive Director of Development University of Illinois at Chicago Surgery Department, Division of Transplantation 840 South Wood Street, Suite 402 (MC 958) Chicago, Illinois 60612 Phone: (312) 413-9763 e-mail: pwager@uic.edu

Clinical Trials
The Chicago Diabetes Project is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials for pancreatic islet transplantation. There are two transplant sites - The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA and The University of Lille, Lille, France.