The National Institute of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH NIDDK) has named UCSF Diabetes Center a Diabetes Research Center, one of a premier group of national institutions that have established an existing base of high-quality, diabetes-related research. The Type 1 Diabetes Research Center at UCSF integrates multiple research programs in areas of islet biology, immunology, and metabolism. For more than two decades, our center has expanded our research base in these area with a facilities infrastructure that coordinates diverse research programs into an interdisciplinary whole. Including senior and early-stage investigators from various departments and schools across UCSF campuses, we provide collective research facilities, a lecture program that fosters interactions amongst laboratories conducting diabetes research, and fund pilots for new and interdisciplinary research directions with a robust administrative infrastructure that promotes these integrative goals.
Our organization unites the diabetes-related research, patient care, and education efforts of UCSF—one of the most respected academic medical centers on the globe. Our renowned scientists, physicians, and educators work as one team to improve the lives of diabetes patients and their families. We are very proud of our long history of making many of the breakthrough discoveries in diabetes.
As a result of our collaborative culture, we are able to offer our patients access to the Diabetes Center's latest scientific findings, novel treatment options, and new strategies for diagnosing and managing diabetes. In return, our patients enrich our research program by providing us with insight into the disease and how it responds to our interventions.
"Federal funding through this grant is vital, as it provides the specialized infrastructure, collaborative environment, and sustained resources needed to drive innovative diabetes research and translate scientific discoveries into improved patient care," said Reid Bolus PhD, our development strategist and key personnel.
A HALF CENTURY OLD CORNERSTONE
The NIH/NIDDK Diabetes Research Center (DRC) program has a 50-year history that began in the early 1970s and has evolved into one of the most important infrastructures for US diabetes research. The first centers, then called Diabetes Endocrinology Research Centers (DERCs), were launched in the early 70s.
By the 1990s, the DERC and its training program component were converging in mission and structure as NIDDK broadened its strategy for diabetes research and strengthened national coordination. In the 2000s, the two programs were unified under the modern Diabetes Research Center (DRC) structure, funded using the P30 center grant mechanism.
The 2020s have marked a period of both continuity and renewal, which UCSF is proud to be a sustained part of. Across five decades, the DRC program has remained a cornerstone of U.S. diabetes research, advancing scientific discovery, enabling landmark clinical trials, supporting early-career investigators, and providing the shared infrastructure necessary for multidisciplinary, high-impact work.