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Grants Place USF At 'Epicenter' Of Diabetes Research

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 1, 2008

TAMPA - A prominent diabetes researcher at the University of South Florida landed another multimillion-dollar grant and ensured that nearly every major effort to eliminate the disease will be orchestrated in Tampa.

Jeffrey Krischer, who previously won USF nearly $200 million in federal grants to coordinate worldwide diabetes research, will lead an effort to investigate new therapies that may arrest the progression of Type 1 diabetes. The National Institutes of Health has awarded his team an additional $128 million to do so.

"We are at the epicenter of diabetes research, there's no doubt about it," Krischer said Thursday. "We're going to be in business doing this until we prevent or cure this disease."

The new award "will catapult USF to the top 50 for NIH funding to medical schools," said Stephen Klasko, USF's senior vice president for health sciences.

Last year, Krischer received a $169 million NIH grant to identify the environmental triggers of Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes. It was USF's largest research award ever.

Altogether, Krischer, a Harvard-trained pediatrics professor, has brought USF about $398 million in research money, federal and otherwise, over the past decade.

Krischer recently has been coordinating the efforts of scientists worldwide to follow 8,000 children for up to 15 years to see how diet, infections and other factors play a role in triggering the disease. These children are at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes.

He also is coordinating a study that aims to prevent the onset of Type 1 diabetes and determine whether breast-feeding protects at-risk children. Researchers are watching 2,100 babies in 15 countries.

The new study, known as TrialNet, will screen more than 150,000 children and adults to identify those with early signs of Type 1 diabetes. Then researchers at more than 200 labs around the world will test to see whether new therapies can arrest the progress of the disease, which afflicts 3 million people in the United States.

Krischer's team ties all the work together. Researchers everywhere feed Krischer data for analysis.

Many of his colleagues consider Krischer irreplaceable, a notion the USF researcher disagrees with. He does, however, concede that this and other studies he's coordinating would not survive without a center like his.

Karen Holbrook, USF's vice president for research, said in a written statement that "Jeff sees connections other people don't see. He uses tools in new ways to solve very complex problems."

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at aemerson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8285.

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