University of Minnesota Receives $40 Million for Type 1 Diabete...( MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL Minn. Dec. 1...)

MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Minnesota has received a $40 million pledge for diabetes research from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. Goals for the funding, to be paid over five years, are to capitalize on the University's strength in diabetes research and to accelerate the timeline to translate it into a viable cure for people with type 1 diabetes.

The gift is the second largest in the history of the University and the second largest by an individual or family foundation to diabetes research in the United States. In recognition of the gift and the future of diabetes research, the University will rename its Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation (DIIT) the Schulze Diabetes Institute.

"We have the capacity to cure this devastating disease and help people enjoy a happy and productive life no longer constrained by diabetes and constant fears and worries," said Bernhard Hering, M.D., an internationally recognized diabetes researcher and co-director of the Schulze Diabetes Institute. "Curing type 1 diabetes is possible. We only need to declare it possible, engage the brightest minds, be contagiously committed and break all barriers. This gift, for which we are very grateful, is breaking big barriers by boosting resources, raising awareness and injecting a sense of urgency and responsibility."

Type 1 diabetes is a crippling and relentless disease. It occurs in children and young adults when the immune system mistakenly destroys all insulin-producing islet beta cells in the pancreas. To stay alive and to regulate their blood sugar, patients rely on multiple daily blood sugar measurements and insulin injections. Even with rigorous disease management, they are at risk of developing deadly complications.

"This transformative gift enables some of the world's best minds to aggressively pursue a cure for a disease
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