Joslin Researchers Head New JDRF Center on Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School
BOSTON — August 23, 2004 — On Aug. 23, 2004, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) announced the opening of the JDRF Center on Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School, supported by Marshalls Ten-Year Partnership with JDRF. Click here to read the press release in its entirety on the HMS news page: http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/8_23JDRF.html
The Center was developed because advances in the immune tolerance area are critical for finding better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for type 1 diabetes. The primary goals of the JDRF Center on 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 HMS and its affiliated hospitals, and in the Boston area more generally; and 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.
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, Co-Heads of the Section on Immunology and Immunogenetics at Joslin Diabetes Center, who hold the joint William T. Young Chair in Diabetes at Joslin and are both Professors of Medicine at HMS, are heading the JDRF Center on Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School and they will oversee a group of 10 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 resea rch 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 on 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 I’m confident that these people are at the very top of their field.”
Joslin researchers will conduct one of the eight projects planned by the Center, as well as manage the three supporting Cores. Click here to review a complete list of all research projects associated with the Center or visit the Center’s web site at: http://www.citdh.org/.
Dr. Mathis and her team will conduct the project: Genetic Dissection of A Central Tolerance Defect in NOD Mice. Genes designated as important in murine systems represent strong candidates for extrapolation to the human context. The identity of genes that can influence tolerance induction in models and patients will give important clues to the molecular and cellular pathways involved, both of which can suggest new targets for intervention. Dr. Mathis and her team are striving to identify the genes responsible for the defect in central tolerance in NOD mice and anticipate that their studies will provide new insights into how a defect in centrally imposed immunological tolerance can promote type 1 diabetes. By identifying the gene, or genes, involved they can implicate particular signaling pathways.
Mouse Islet Core: Gordon C. Weir, M.D., HMS Professor of Medicine and Head of the Joslin Section on Islet Transplantation and Cell Biology who holds the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation Chair at Joslin. The Islet Core will supply mouse islets to the participants of the new Center.
Manipulated NOD Mouse Core: Dr. Benoist and Myra A. Lipes, M.D., HMS Assistant Professor of Medicine and an Investigator in the Joslin Section on Islet Transplantation and Cell Biology. The Core will provide investigators from the new Center access to animals with germline genetic modifications.
Administrative Core: Dr. Mathis will provide administrative support for the new Center.
