Working to conquer diabetes
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.
The state-funded grants awarded by the Partnership will support research led by University and Mayo Clinic co-investigators to create an artificial pancreas, develop anti-obesity drugs aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes, and explore immune-based diabetes treatments—work that will spearhead the Decade of Discovery’s research programs in coming months.
“Using the resources from the Minnesota Partnership, we expect to see major advances in both diabetes treatment and prevention as a result of this works,” says University endocrinologist and Decade of Discovery co-leader Elizabeth Seaquist, M.D.
The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is a collaboration of the University, Mayo Clinic, and the state of Minnesota.
