THE STEELE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH CENTER
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
The Steele Children’s Research Center is one of The University of Arizona College of Medicine’s eight centers of excellence. Nearly 60 world-renowned physicians and scientists work in the Steele Center taking care of critically ill children and developing better treatments and cures for serious childhood diseases.
Diabetes is a designated top priority for the UA College of Medicine, along with cardiology, neurology and cancer. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. In Arizona, nearly twice as many children have diabetes compared to the national average. Type 1 (formerly juvenile) diabetes can be controlled, but not cured. Complications are common and can be life-threatening.
With the support of Father’s Day Council Tucson, the Steele Center is able to provide better care for children with diabetes. The Steele Center is currently recruiting a team of three molecular endocrinology investigators with some funding support from The University of Arizona’s BIO5 Institute. Father’s Day Council has pledged critical philanthropic support for start-up packages for these new hires. The recently expanded diabetes program includes comprehensive clinical care in addition to clinical and basic science research.
With Father’s Day Council funding, researchers are investigating premature atherosclerosis, a common complication for children with diabetes. They also are studying the gene that is responsible for triggering the body’s response to low blood sugar to help prevent hypoglycemia in children with diabetes. Another research venture supported by Father's Day Councl Tucson is one that could enhance current clinical trials of islet cell transplantation, which some believe could be the best possible solution to reversing diabetes.
Father’s Day Council Tucson’s support is helping the Steele Center take better care of children in Arizona and through medical research is helping to improve children’s health around the world.
STEELE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH CENTER
2007 DIABETES PROGRAM AND RESEARCH UPDATE
The Steele Children’s Research Center at The University of Arizona continues to expand its program for type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes. The Steele Center diabetes program expansion mirrors an institution-wide emphasis for diabetes research.
The Dean of the UA College of Medicine has identified diabetes as one of four top priorities (along with cardiology, cancer, and neurology) and is currently recruiting a Director for the Comprehensive Diabetes Program. The Medical Research Building, scheduled for completion in 2007, includes plans for a floor completely dedicated to diabetes research.
The Steele Children’s Research Center is currently recruiting a team of three molecular endocrinology investigators with some funding support from BIO5, The University of Arizona Institute for Collaborative Bioresearch. Funding from the 2006 Fathers of the Year Awards is critical for the start-up packages required to successfully establish this strategic expansion of the Steele Center diabetes research team.
The first new hire for this research team is pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Kurt Griffin, who joins the Steele Center on July 1 from the National Institutes of Health. Griffin earned his MD/PhD from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Like many Steele Center faculty, Griffin will conduct research and see patients as well.
Past Father’s Day Council (FDC) funding continues to support research progress. In 2004, FDC funded Dr. Stuart Williams and Dr. James Hoying’s work to transplant healthy insulin-producing cells into diabetics. The beta cell replacement project utilizes a small pouch constructed from high-tech biomaterials (PVID for short) to house and protect the beta cells. With the cells adequately protected by the PVID, the next challenge is to provide nutrition for the new beta cells through the diabetic’s own blood vessels. Supported by FDC funding, Drs. Williams and Hoying have since been awarded new grants to investigate a structure for a pre-built blood supply. The FDC-supported research was also used as part of a new set of NIH (National Institutes of Health) grant proposals to study growth of blood vessels in diabetics. Not only could this research be important to the future of the beta cell transplantation, it could also yield important information for vascular diseases that commonly afflict diabetics.
The Steele Center gratefully acknowledges its 13-year partnership with Father’s Day Council Tucson, whose support has been instrumental in the growth and success of the diabetes research program.
Diabetes
What You Need to Know - Even if You Don't Have the Disease (link to PDF)
Letter from Director
For more than a decade, Father’s Day Council Tucson has supported the Steele Children’s Research Center in its passionate endeavor to improve the lives of children in Arizona and across the United States living with type 1 diabetes.
I am proud of the legacy created by Father’s Day Council Tucson. FDC support enables our researchers to continue the vital work of solving the mysteries of childhood diabetes. With support from FDC, the Steele Center is a leader in type 1 diabetes research. To learn more about our latest diabetes-related research, please visit our website at www.steelecenter.arizona.edu.
Type 1 diabetes is a terrible disease that is inflicted upon too many of our children. I am deeply grateful to Fathers Day Council Tucson for its dedication to finding a cure for diabetes, and thus helping children all over the world who will ultimately benefit from the research.
Warm regards,
Fayez K. Ghishan, MD
Director, Steele Children’s Research Center
Head, Department of Pediatrics
