NUI Galway is spending €1.6 million on training six researchers on therapies with the potential to revolutionise the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes.
The DELIVER programme at NUIG has been granted €1.6 million to advance new ways of transplanting insulin producing cells into the bodies of patients with Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system mistakenly destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
Without insulin the body can’t properly regulate blood sugar levels which can cause dangerously high blood sugar.
Chronic high blood sugar often causes devastating health complications later in life, including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and nerve damage that can lead to amputations.
Each early stage researcher will spend half of their time with an academic partner and the other half with an industry partner so they can ensure that academic knowledge will become implemented in patient care.
Professor Garry Duffy at NUI Galway said, “We are delighted to lead the DELIVER programme and to continue to translate new collaborative research for the benefit of patients with Type 1 diabetes.”
“We are also excited to train the next generation of researchers in this area, and to give them the industrial skills necessary to have real patient impact.”
This programme is a major collaboration between biologists, medtech specialists, and bio medical companies to spearhead new innovations.
It’s funded through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, and builds on research from another massive EU project, DRIVE, which was also co-ordinated by Professor Duffy.
Recruitment of the six researchers for DELIVER will begin at NUI Galway at the end of January.
