Promising new research earns Salk scientist Career Development Award

September 27, 2013

Promising new research earns Salk scientist Career Development Award

September 27, 2013

LA JOLLA, CA—The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has given Salk scientist Mark Huising a five-year, $750,000 Career Development Award for his proposed study on how a novel network of receptors in human islets receives and integrates molecular signals. In pre-clinical models, activation of these receptors has proven to actually prevent diabetes. Career Development Awards are highly competitive and bestowed upon only a handful of people each year.

The goal of Huising’s study, entitled “Urocortin 3 Marks Mature Beta Cells and Prevents Diabetes,” is to understand how this protection against diabetes is accomplished. “Despite years of research,” he says, “significant gaps remain in our understanding of the way the islet receives and integrates signals from a wide variety of sources. We envision that among these networks of signaling molecules remain plenty that are unknown and can lead to novel strategies to treat or cure Type 1 diabetes.”

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Although the condition, which usually appears during childhood or adolescence, can be managed, it’s a daily juggling act. Food, exercise and insulin must be carefully balanced with scheduled blood sugar checks and insulin injections. A diagnosis of diabetes is also a major risk factor for such later complications as cardiac failure, kidney problems and lower limb amputations. To date, Type 1 diabetes has no cure, making Huising’s research all the more exciting.

Huising received his doctorate in biology at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Currently working in the 克莱顿基金会肽生物学实验室 at the Salk Institute, Huising and his team study the actions of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and urocortins in the pancreas. Urocortin 3, a peptide related to CRF, is abundantly expressed by mature beta cells and makes important contributions to the regulation of insulin secretion and glucose metabolism.

The JDRF is the leading global organization funding Type 1 diabetes research. The foundation currently sponsors $530 million in scientific research in 17 countries and emphasizes seeking researchers “who will bridge the gap between the bench and bedside.” The primary purpose of the Career Development Award is to “attract qualified and promising scientists early in their faculty careers and to give them the opportunity to establish themselves” in areas pertinent to diabetes research.

关于索尔克生物研究所：
索尔克生物研究所是世界顶尖的基础研究机构之一，其国际知名的教职人员在一个独特、协作和富有创造性的环境中，深入探究生命科学的基本问题。索尔克科学家们致力于发现和指导未来几代研究人员，通过研究神经科学、遗传学、细胞和植物生物学以及相关学科，在癌症、衰老、阿尔茨海默氏症、糖尿病和传染病的认识方面做出了开创性的贡献。.

学院取得了许多成就，获得了包括诺贝尔奖和美国国家科学院院士在内的无数荣誉。该研究所由脊髓灰质炎疫苗先驱 Jonas Salk 博士于 1960 年创立，是一家独立的非营利组织和建筑地标。.