Diabetes Pro Quarterly - Winter 2020 - 10

Research News

Association Announces New Pathway to Stop Diabetes® Awardees
The American Diabetes Association is pleased to announce the selection of two scientists for funding through the prestigious
Pathway to Stop Diabetes research grant program, now in its seventh year.
Pathway awards are offered via three grant types, each providing up to $1.625 million in research support over the course of
5-7 years. Initiator Awards support scientists completing training positions and transitioning to independent research careers.
Accelerator Awards support exceptional diabetes scientists early in their independent research careers. Visionary Awards
support well-established scientists from other fields who seek to apply their expertise to diabetes research for the first time.
These two scientists join an elite group of 32 other Pathway awardees who have been selected since the inception of the
program in 2014. Pathway scientists have made significant contributions to the field of diabetes. Collectively, their Pathwayfunded research has resulted in 13 patent invention disclosures and patent applications, more than 160 peer-reviewed
publications, and several hundred scientific presentations. Additionally, all nine Initiator Award recipients have secured their first
independent faculty positions.
2020 ACCELERATOR AWARD

2020 VISIONARY AWARD

Judith Agudo, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
Boston, MA

Maxence V. Nachury, PhD
University of California,
San Francisco

Project title: Harnessing Immune
Privilege Mechanisms from Stem Cells
to Protect β-Cells from Immune Attack

Project title: Regulation of Body
Weight Homeostasis and β-Cell
Function by Primary Cilia

Despite notable improvement in exogenous insulin therapy,
people with diabetes often have difficulty adequately controlling
their glucose levels, which can lead to serious complications. To
definitively cure type 1 diabetes, the insulin-producing β-cells
that were lost need to be replaced. Strategies to accomplish
this, including transplantation of cells provided by donors
or the conversion of stem cells, have seen limited success
because the transplanted cells inevitably succumb to the same
autoimmune attack that killed the original β-cells. Thus, it is of
the utmost importance to develop strategies to preserve newly
generated or transplanted insulin-producing cells.
Dr. Agudo's Pathway to Stop Diabetes project will investigate
such a strategy. Her laboratory recently discovered the
existence of specialized stem cells in the skin and muscle
that are somehow protected from attack by immune cells.
The goal of her project is to determine the molecular
underpinnings that allow these stem cells to be "cloaked"
from activated immune cells and then to apply them to
β-cells. In effect, this could indefinitely protect transplanted
β-cells without the need for immunosuppressive drugs
and could lead to better outcomes and reduced burden for
people living with diabetes.

Upcoming Grant Administration Deadlines for
Currently Funded Investigators
Final reports for award holders with a
December 31, 2019, end date

March 1, 2020

Scientific progress reports for award
holders with a July 1 start date

May 1, 2020

Pathway mid-year progress reports

May 1, 2020

DiabetesPro Quarterly | WINTER 2020

Nearly every cell in the human body possesses a sensory
"antenna" that is used to sense changes occurring outside of
the cell. These antennae are called primary cilia. In a group
of rare genetic disorders dubbed ciliopathies, malfunction
of the primary cilia results in profound obesity, kidney
anomalies, vision loss, altered glucose tolerance, and a host
of other symptoms. The range of symptoms present in the
ciliopathies suggests a broad physiological importance for
primary cilia. However, little is known about how primary cilia
affect regulation of blood glucose and body weight.
Dr. Nachury's Pathway to Stop Diabetes project seeks to
determine the role primary cilia play in two distinct areas
that are important to the development of obesity and type 2
diabetes. First, he will determine how primary cilia influence
the processes that control appetite in the brain. Second, he will
study how primary cilia affect the function of insulin-producing
pancreatic β-cells. Ultimately, the goal of Dr. Nachury's
project is to determine whether primary cilia can be targeted
therapeutically to improve treatments for people with diabetes.

Application Deadline Announced for Core
Research Program
The call for applications for Core research program
funding opportunities will open on July 1, 2020.
Applications will be due November 16, 2020, by
5:00 p.m. ET for anticipated funding to start July 1, 2021.
For the most up-to-date information regarding funding
opportunities and application deadlines, please refer
to current program announcements and application
instructions at diabetes.org/grants.

http://www.diabetes.org/grants

Diabetes Pro Quarterly - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Diabetes Pro Quarterly - Winter 2020