Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We seek to establish a Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center at Columbia University. The DERC will promote interactions among research groups in diabetes, immunology, transplantation and obesity at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, The New York Obesity Research Center, and the historically strong groups in arteriosclerosis/lipid research at Columbia University. We envision that these interactions will extend to groups currently pursuing basic research in structural biology, genomics, complications, cell biology and clinical investigators in the areas of body composition, energy expenditure, genetic epidemiology of type 2 diabetes in adolescents, islet transplantation and prevention of diabetes complications. The DERC will strengthen existing NIH training grants in Endocrinology, Metabolism, Pediatrics, Arterioeclerosis, Immunology, Genetics and Obesity by broadening the pool of mentors and laboratories for the trainees' benefit. To meet these goals, the DERC will provide core services in six areas of research: Hormone/metabolite, Protein expression, Immunology/cell banking, Genomics, Analytical determinations of body composition and tissue metabolites, and Mouse phenotyping. Additionally, the DERC will provide opportunity and encouragement for established scientists in other research areas at Columbia University to enter the diabetes field, and will make available initial funding for young investigators through a pilot/feasibility grant program modeled after the existing Naomi Berrie Fellowship Award. The DERC will broaden the research base through program enrichment activities aimed at increasing the awareness of diabetes research in the scientific/academic community of Columbia University and New York City and through more extensive interactions with other academic institutions in the greater New York area.