Founded by Paul and Diane Manning, the Focus to Cure Diabetes Foundation has played an integral role in establishing an islet cell transplant program at the University of Virginia.

Islet cell transplantation has been hailed as a cutting edge answer to providing diabetes patients with insulin independence.

Formerly known as the Islet Replacement Research Foundation, the nonprofit, volunteer organization was instrumental in helping UVa perform the state’s first islet cell transplant and continues to raise money to support diabetes research.

Funding Diabetes Research

When it comes to diabetes, the Mannings have long put their money where their hearts are. The couple, parents of two children with type 1 diabetes, has donated several million dollars to diabetes research efforts with the aim of curing the disease.

The Mannings plan to continue to fund diabetes research at UVa and have leveraged their consumer products company to make progress on the diabetes research front. In fact, PBM Products recently introduced the GlucoBurst™ line of diabetic products to help people better manage diabetes. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of GlucoBurst® Glucose Gel and GlucoBurst™ Diabetic Drink will be donated to diabetes research.

“We believe a cure for diabetes is around the corner,” said PBM CEO, Paul B. Manning. “Until then, PBM will continue to offer products like GlucoBurst diabetic products and fund ambitious research projects focused on finding a cure.”

The Most Promising Cure – Islet Cell Transplantation

In 2002, the University of Virginia Health System created the Center for Cellular Transplantation and Therapeutics and established the first human islet cell transplant program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The center has performed two islet cell transplants and can now isolate insulin-producing tissue from human pancreata for transplantation into diabetic patients.

Using state-of-the-art technology, doctors extract clinical-grade islet cells (insulin-producing cells called the "Islets of Langerhans") from a pancreas, purify them, and inject them into the patient’s liver where they can function. If conditions remain suitable, these islets begin to produce insulin, reducing the need for insulin injections.

The Remaining Challenge

Islet cell transplantation is improving the lives of type 1 diabetics and represents the most promising cure for the disease, but more research is needed before patient immune systems can accept transplanted islet cells without the use of immunosuppressive drugs. These medications are toxic to the islets themselves and have potential side effects.

The Focus to Cure Diabetes Foundation has taken on three initiatives to meet this remaining challenge:

• Funding islet cell transplants that enable patients to produce enough insulin to control blood glucose without immunosuppressive drugs.
• Supporting research to address the present shortage of islet cells by converting other cells into beta cells and leveraging live organ donations.
• Exploring regeneration strategies that will one day enable patients to renew their own beta cells.

The need for ongoing research and the serious shortage of islet cells available for transplantation presents donors with two important ways to give.

Ways to Give

The Focus to Cure Diabetes Foundation envisions a world without diabetes. While the government has committed some funding to diabetes research, private and corporate support is vital to accelerate research from the laboratory into clinically useful treatments.

In addition to financial support, organ donation is another way to give and potentially save a life. In the case of diabetes, there is a need for pancreas and kidney donations. To learn how to become an organ donor in your state, visit www.organdonor.gov.

A Breakthrough at The University of Virginia

The foundation's longtime affiliation with UVa researchers has helped find a new treatment that reverses type 1 diabetes.

“This finding is very exciting because it one day may provide an opportunity to restore insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes without the need for toxic anti-rejection medications,” said Dr. Jerry Nadler, chief of the UVa Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, in a recent UVa press release.