Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Names University of Rochester’s Dr. Richard A. Insel As Executive Vice President of Research

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Tuesday, 29 April 2003

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF) said today that it has named Richard A. Insel, M.D., currently Director of the University of Rochester Medical Center's Center for Human Genetics and Molecular Pediatric Disease, as Executive Vice President for Research at JDRF. In that capacity, Dr. Insel will have responsibility for heading up the strategic direction and oversight of the approximately $100 million in research grants annually awarded to universities and researchers by JDRF— the largest charitable funder of juvenile (type 1) diabetes research in the world.

"The addition of a physician, researcher, and scientific co-founder of a biotechnology company with the experience and expertise of Richard Insel further underscores JDRF's position as a leader in setting the direction and pace of juvenile diabetes research globally," said Gordon D. Barker, Chairman of the International Board of Directors of JDRF. "Dr. Insel's track record of managing major research and clinical centers, as well as his success in founding a biotech company, will significantly enhance our ability to pursue our mission – finding and funding research leading to a cure for type 1 diabetes as soon as possible."

Mr. Barker noted that in 2002, JDRF funded some 500 type 1 diabetes research grants, fellowships and centers in 19 countries around the world, representing approximately $100 million—more than any other organization in the world, except for the U.S. government. Since its founding, JDRF has funded more than $600 million in juvenile (type 1) diabetes research activities globally; the organization's funding and leadership is associated with most major scientific breakthroughs in type 1 research to date, including pancreatic islet transplantation.

Dr. Insel has had a distinguished medical and research career in pediatric immunology. He joins JDRF after 26 years at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he was a member of that institution's departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology. Among other responsibilities, Dr. Insel has served as Acting Chair of Pediatrics; Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology, and Immunology, and the Cancer Center; Associate Chair for Pediatric Research; Director of the Strong Children's Research Center; and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology. He has been founding director of the Center for Human Genetics and Molecular Pediatric Disease since 2000.

In addition to his university research experience, Dr. Insel was scientific co-founder of Praxis Biologics, a biotechnology company established in 1983 and subsequently acquired by Wyeth, the global pharmaceutical and health care products company. Praxis Biologics was responsible for bringing a new vaccine to market that resulted in the virtual elimination of the most common form of childhood meningitis in infants and children in the U.S.

"I am truly honored and privileged to join the JDRF in this position," said Dr. Insel. "Type 1 diabetes, a devastating and major chronic disease of children and adults, demands the development of a cure. We must support innovative basic research and translate the recent advances and discoveries in immunology, developmental biology, stem cell biology, and genetics and genomics to accelerate the development of a cure for diabetes and its complications, as well as its prevention. I look forward to working with all in the diabetes community — from scientists to volunteers to industry to government — in this critical mission."

Dr. Insel has also served as a Visiting Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, a fellow in Pediatrics (Research) at Harvard Medical School, a fellow in Medicine (Immunology) at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston, and in the Laboratory of Parasitic Immunochemistry at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

"Dr. Richard Insel's unique background — combining clinical pediatric experience, managing university research centers, and establishing a biotechnology company — makes him an ideal choice to take JDRF's research activities to the next level," said Peter Van Etten, President and Chief Executive Officer of JDRF. "With the prospects for a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications greater every day, his leadership will be a significant factor in JDRF's role in setting the diabetes research agenda worldwide."

Juvenile (type 1) diabetes is the most severe form of a disease that annually accounts for more than $125 billion in health care costs in the U.S. alone, and represents approximately 25 percent of all Medicare expenditures. Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed before age 30; today, it afflicts more than 1 million children and adults. The disease requires multiple insulin injections daily just to survive, is difficult to manage, carries the constant threat of devastating complications including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, and amputation, and usually results in a drastic reduction in quality of life and shortening of the average life span.

JDRF, the world's leading nonprofit, nongovernmental funder of diabetes research, was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with juvenile diabetes—a disease which strikes children suddenly, makes them insulin dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Since inception, JDRF has provided more than $600 million to diabetes research worldwide. The organization's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. For more information, visit the JDRF website at www.jdrf.org, or call 800-533-CURE.

For more information, or to contact Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, see their website at: www.jdrf.org