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Pathway to Stop Diabetes now accepting nominations
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CHICAGO —The ADA has started accepting nominations for institutional research grants through the Pathway to Stop Diabetes — a research initiative designed by the association, according to information presented here at the ADA Scientific Sessions.
“The idea behind ‘Pathway’ is to identify the most creative thinkers in a whole variety of different areas. To bring their expertise and creativity to the diabetes arena; we need to find innovative approaches to deal with the epidemic that is diabetes,” Robert Ratner, MD, chief scientific and medical officer of the ADA, said during a press conference.
Robert Ratner
The Pathway to Stop Diabetes was announced in December 2012 by the ADA, and has since started recruiting researchers and will award grants at the end of the year under the new initiative. Nominations are being accepted from now until Aug. 16, 2013 from accredited US academic and nonprofit research institutions, according to C. Ronald Kahn, MD, chair of the mentor advisory group.
“This mentor group consists of very experienced, and many distinguished, scientific advisors who will not just provide scientific advice, but also provide guidance to younger scientists in their career search,” Kahn said at the press conference.
He said that the nominees will include engineers, mathematicians, chemists, biologists, fellows and academic faculty members.
“It’s a very innovative program. It’s very different compared with what we’ve done in the past with research. It’s looking for a new generation of brilliant researchers and trying to attract them to the field of diabetes research,” Tamara Darsow, PhD, vice president of research programs with ADA, said during the press conference. The program has received more than $7 million from individuals and $20 million in founding corporate support from various pharmaceutical entities. Awards in the amount of $1.625 million will be provided to investigators over the course of 5 to 7 years who propose relevant research for the disease.
The mentor group will identify nominees based on innovation and creativity, and will provide career and scientific advice to the initiative’s scientists for the duration of the awards.
John E. Anderson, MD, president of medicine and science at the ADA, added that the mission of ADA is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people with diabetes.
“It’s an innovative approach because we’re going to allow people to pursue their experimentation and explore their ideas wherever science may lead them,” Anderson said.
According to the researchers, the nominated institutions will be formally announced in November. – by Samantha Costa
For more information:
Pathway to Stop Diabetes. Presented at: ADA Scientific Sessions; June 21-25, 2013; Chicago.
Disclosure: Anderson reports being on advisory panels with Abbott, Amylin, Eli Lilly and Company, and Sanofi; consultant for Amylin and Sanofi; speaker’s bureau for Amylin, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Company, and Novo Nordisk. Kahn reports being on advisory panels with Catabasis, Dicerna, Ember therapeutics, Five Price Therapeutics; consultant for Sanofi; research support from Eli Lilly and Company, Sanofi; speaker’s bureaus for Merck, and stock/shareholder with Ember Therapeutics.