Biomedical Frontiers: Fall 1997, Vol.4, No.2
Diabetes Research
Diabetes Research at Columbia

by Herbert Pardes, M.D.
Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean, Faculty of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons

Diabetes mellitus is a public health problem of major dimensions in the United States and throughout the world, affecting 8 percent to 10 percent of the population. No age or ethnic group is spared, as the onset of diabetes and the development of complications occur throughout life and across the population. CPMC has a tradition of research and clinical activity in diabetes. One of the earliest clinical uses of insulin was its administration to a patient at Presbyterian Hospital.

However, although insulin lowers the glucose levels of patients, the long-term impact of the disease remains. Diabetes results in complications of daunting proportions--cerebrovascular disease, myocardial infarctions, strokes, heart attacks, renal failure, neuropathy, skin ulcers, infections, and amputations, to name just a few. The work of Dr. David Stern's research team on the contribution of non-enzymatically glycated macromolecules and their receptor RAGE--work that has the goal of preventing and treating the complications of diabetes--is an especially promising development in this area.

The causes of diabetes appear to involve a complex array of environmental and genetic factors and form the basis of work by Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer. Increasingly promising efforts to transplant pancreatic islets, the endogenous insulin factories, are the focus of Dr. Mark Hardy's efforts. Of special note is Dr. Robin Goland's work on gestational diabetes, which already has raised our standard of diabetes care at CPMC. Dr. Henry Ginsberg has established a program to study lipid abnormalities in patients with diabetes. Dr. John Nicholson focuses on diabetes in children.

The establishment of a Diabetes Center to serve as the focal point for intensifying and coordinating our patient care and research efforts in diabetes is the cornerstone of our future program in diabetes. We look forward to a major role in the fight against this disease.