The “Nobel Prize of Diabetes": ADA Pathway Initiative Announced Its Newest Young Researcher Awardees

Twitter summary: @AmDiabetesAssn Pathway awards 6 new young + innovative scientists w/ major research grants to pursue breakthroughs in #diabetes

In 2012, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) established an ambitious program to address two of the most pressing issues in diabetes research: insufficient funding and a shortage of young scientists interested in pursuing a career in diabetes. The Pathway to Stop Diabetes initiative awards research grants of up to $1.625 million (paid over five years) to up-and-coming scientists early in their careers who are committed to working on innovative “breakthrough” projects in diabetes, with the extraordinary goal to fund 100 researchers over the next 10 years.

In what is a major plus for the young researchers, the program also offers awardees extensive mentorship opportunities, allowing them to develop relationships with prominent diabetes experts who have volunteered to serve as mentors.

The Pathway program is largely the brainchild of Dr. Karen Talmadge, (Chair of the Board and Vice Chair, Research Foundation of the ADA), who helped identify the rising need to bring scientists into diabetes research early in their careers, as well as to find established researchers in other fields willing to bring their research prowess into diabetes. The Pathway program is the first of its kind in diabetes, and we commend the ADA, Dr. Talmadge, and all of the other many collaborators and supporters who have helped make it possible.

We had the pleasure of recently interviewing the five 2014 awardees (stay tuned!), and we are excited to help announce the appointment of the new 2015 class of awardees. The six brilliant young scientists selected this year are:

Celine Emmanuelle Riera, PhD (University of California, Berkeley) is leading research on the how the body's sensory systems impact metabolic disorders.

Stephanie Stanford, PhD (La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology) is leading research on the interaction between genetics and environment in type 1 diabetes.

Thomas Delong, PhD (University of Colorado Denver) is leading research on immune system malfunction in the development of type 1 diabetes.

Zhen Gu, PhD (North Carolina State University) is leading research on "synthetic vesicles" that could release insulin and glucagon in response to the body's glucose levels.

Marie-France Hivert, MD (Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) is leading research on maternal hyperglycemia during pregnancy and its impact on the child's future type 2 diabetes risk in adulthood.

Mayland Chang, PhD (University of Notre Dame) is leading research on enhancing wound repair in people with diabetes.