The Chicago Diabetes Project and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System Work Toward a cure for Diabetes
Posted: January 18, 2012 by UI Health Marketing
For information on diabetes care at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences Systems, please contact the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism
The Chicago Diabetes Project is working to make islet cell transplantation a viable treatment option for diabetes. Based in Chicago at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, the Chicago Diabetes Project is a collection of scientists, researchers, physicians and surgeons spanning the globe who have a two-fold mission to cure diabetes.
Dr. José Oberholzer, the coordinator and director of cell transplantation at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine is the director of the Chicago Diabetes Project. Dr. Oberholzer and the other Chicago Diabetes Project leaders strongly believe that the scientific community has all the necessary ingredients to make cell-based therapy an option for the majority of diabetic patients.
The Chicago Diabetes Project and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System have established in record time a first-class human islet isolation and transplantation program.
In the first clinical trial, 10 of 10 patients achieved insulin-independence: AJT UIC Trial
A cure is close.
Islet cell transplantation offers promise of a cell-based, functional cure for diabetes. Transplanted islet cells quickly begin to act as insulin factories, allowing recipients to live insulin free. By placing the islet cells in protective capsules, there is hope that transplant recipients will not need immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection. Future research to prove these concepts will pave the way for widespread clinical application of a cell-based cure for diabetes.
For more information on the Chicago Diabetes Project, please visit www.chicagodiabetesproject.org
For more information on Dr. Obeholzer, how the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System is helping to find a cure for diabetes, or to schedule an appointment, please call: 312.413.3631
