The Decade of Discovery, a major initiative of the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, has hired an executive director and awarded three research grants totaling $1.86 million to bring the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic closer to the initiative's goal: finding a cure for diabetes.
David Etzwiler, the Decade of Discovery's new executive director, has a background in leadership in the private health care sector, having served as vice president of community affairs and executive director of the Medtronic Foundation. He also has experience securing government funding for large projects.
One-third of all adults in the state either have diabetes or are pre-diabetic. Elizabeth Seaquist, Medical School, Schulze Diabetes Institute and University of Minnesota Physicians, discusses the scope of the disease, it's impact, and the most promising research.
The cure for diabetes could come from cells from pigs being raised in germ-free pens. Bernhard Hering, Medical School, Schulze Diabetes Institute and University of Minnesota Physicians, talks about how pig cells have worked by reversing diabetes in other animals.
