Diabetes
A
Denise Faustman | Harvard Medical School | wiki |
2001 Adult Stem Cells | Denise Faustman, associate professor of medicine
2004 - NY Times Story |
2006 - NY Times Story |
Research for the Cure Foundation | links |Only the support of Lee A. Iacocca, the former chief of Chrysler, who said he wanted to see diabetes cured in his lifetime, has allowed her to pursue her goal. He mounted an $11 million fund-raising campaign and wrote a $1 million check to start the fund.
The purpose of Reach for the Cure Foundation is to raise funds for the groundbreaking work of Dr. Denise Faustman, MD,PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital
islet cells
Dr. Faustman's research began when she came to Massachusetts General in 1985 to help start a program to cure diabetes with transplants of islet cells, which come from hormone-producing regions of the pancreas. She had learned to isolate human islet cells from the transplant technique's developer, Dr. Paul Lacey of Washington University, and she was confident about her skill.Diabetes occurs when a white blood cell, part of the body's immune system, migrates to the pancreas and mistakenly sees islet cells as foreign tissue. It then multiplies and destroys the islets. But, Dr. Faustman learned, she could block the white cells by supplying them with a piece of protein that signaled that the islet cells were normal cells, rather than foreign invaders
Lee Iacocca:
-- Join Lee Now: http://joinleenow.org/ |
-- The Iacocca Fondation: http://iacoccafoundation.org/ |