Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International

The mission of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF) is to find a cure for diabetes and its complica-tions through the support of research. In the current fiscal year, JDRF will provide up to $130 million dollars in funds to support research relevant to its mission.

Type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes) is an autoimmune disease in which the insulin-secreting â cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas are destroyed by a targeted immune attack. The disease occurs in individuals with a genetic predisposition. In the earliest stage of the disease, T cells infiltrate the islets and attack the â cells, and antibodies to multiple â cell antigens can be demonstrated. The destruction is insidious and can continue for years before clinical symptoms develop. By the time of clinical diagnosis (hyper-glycemia), patients have lost approximately 80% of their â cell mass. Ultimately all âcells are destroyed and affected individuals become dependent on exogenous insulin for treatment. The disease is chron-ic and can lead to devastating complications, including kidney fail-ure, blindness, nerve damage, amputation, heart attack and stroke.

JDRF supports many areas of research related to the prevention and reversal of autoimmunity in people with type 1 diabetes. These include determining the genes that convey risk or protection for the disease and elucidation of the molecular and cellular pathways lead-ing to immune activation in type 1 diabetes. The Foundation espe-cially emphasizes translational research leading to the development of therapies to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes in individuals at risk, to preserve â cell mass in newly diagnosed individuals and to prevent recurrence of autoimmunity in people with type 1 diabetes who receive an islet cell transplant.

Recently JDRF has partnered with the National Institutes of Health to co-sponsor the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN). The ITN, an international consortium of over 70 basic and clinical inves-tigators, will test promising clinical strategies and biological assays for the purpose of inducing, maintaining and monitoring immune tolerance for the prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases as well as asthma and allergic diseases and kidney and islet cell transplantation (www.immunetolerance.org).

JDRF is an international organization that supports research worldwide. In the past year, the Foundation has funded 300 research grants and 130 training awards. For more information about JDRF research emphasis areas (Request for Applications) and information about grant applications, please see the JDRF website at www.jdrf.org/research.

The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association

The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (also known as AARDA) is a national patient organization head-quartered in East Detroit, Michigan. AARDA is dedicated to the eradication of autoimmune diseases and alleviation of the suf-fering they cause through initiating, fostering and facilitating collaboration between education, public awareness campaigns, research and patient services in an ethical and efficient manner.

Unique among patient advocacy groups, AARDA looks at the problems associated with autoimmune diseases generally. There are persuasive clinical and fundamental reasons for this global viewpoint. Of course, each autoimmune disease presents quite differently, depending upon the site of attack. But clinically, they tend to cluster, so that a patient with one autoimmune disorder is at heightened risk of developing another. Other family members also have an increased risk. From the basic science standpoint, there are a number of common threads that unite autoimmune diseases. These common threads teach us fundamental lessons about the origin and pathogenesis of these diseases. The HLA association and other genetic determinants illustrate some com-mon issues. Finally, new therapies aimed at the root causes of autoimmune diseases, instead of just alleviating the symptoms, are likely to be applicable to a broad array of autoimmune dis-eases rather than just a single disorder.

AARDA supports basic autoimmune research, organizes investigational scientific colloquiums and supports speakers at scientific meetings. AARDA also engages in advocacy efforts to raise the level of federal funding for autoimmune research, and sponsors public awareness and patient service programs.

AARDA initiated the formation of, and currently facilitates the work of, the National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups, which has a membership of 18 national organizations representing specific autoimmune diseases. AARDA maintains an extensive volunteer patient and family registry for many of the autoimmune diseases, which is available for collaborative research efforts. To learn more about AARDA, visit our website at www.AARDA.org.