Translational Research

According to the American Diabetes Association,  18.2 million people (or over 6% of the population) in the United States have diabetes.  Over a million of these people have type 1 diabetes, the most severe form of the disease.  People with type 1 diabetes are not only dependent on insulin shots or an insulin pump for the rest of their life, but they also experience complications such as blindness, amputation, heart disease and stroke, kidney failure - which limit and shorten their life.

The Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation is committed to finding a cure for diabetes.  We translate basic research discoveries and innovative ideas into clinical trials that lead to better treatments that will help people with diabetes.  First, our researchers generate and test novel ideas in the laboratory.  Once new therapies or prevention strategies have been found effective in the laboratory, investigators conduct clinical trials to determine if they are safe and effective for people with diabetes.

Through a new academic initiative and state-of-the-art research facility (the McGuire Translational Research Facility, shown above), the University of Minnesota hopes to accelerate the development of cures for the world's most devastating diseases.  With breakthroughs in transplant surgery, open-heart surgery, and bone and blood marrow transplantation, translational research has long been a strong suit at the University of Minnesota.  According to Dr. Frank Cerra, senior vice president of the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center, "We are only one of four universities in the entire nation that has all the health professional leadership schools located in one place, all collaborating in research and education."  The Academic Health Center includes medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, public health and veterinary medicine; all collaborate on research.  The interdisciplinary nature of translational research means the time it takes to develop new treatments and technologies is shorter than it would otherwise be.  At the University of Minnesota, clinicians and scientists in various professions work together, learn from each other, and find creative solutions.  Translational researchers feel a sense of urgency as they take basic research to treatment to cure because they have a clear goal in sight - translating discoveries into therapies that will help people.  The University of Minnesota is striving to become one of the top three public research universities in the world.