New drug delivery system for type 1 diabetes complications attracts JDRF grant
From left to right: Professor Rob Widdop, Professor Sharon Ricardo,
Professor Mibel Aguilar, Dr Mark Del Borgo and Professor Jennifer Wilkinson-Berka.
A multidisciplinary team investigating type 1 diabetes complications led by Monash University Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) scientist Professor Sharon Ricardo has been awarded US$750,000 by JDRF, the leading global organisation funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.
The grant, over three years, was awarded as a “Concept Call” for big picture, out-of-the-box thinking that leads to paradigm shifts in the field that would provide improved treatments for people with type 1 diabetes.
It will fund a project titled ‘Protecting diabetic organs using a dual-acting compound delivered via injectable hydrogel’.
“It’s always very rewarding to get large grant funding to further ideas – it's difficult in this very competitive funding environment,” Professor Ricardo said.
The diverse team includes peptide chemists Professor Mibel Aguilar and Dr Mark Del Borgo, cardiovascular pharmacologist Professor Rob Widdop, Professor Ricardo as a diabetic kidney specialist, and diabetic eye specialist Professor Jennifer Wilkinson-Berka from Monash University’s Central Clinical School and who heads the Retinopathy Laboratory in the new Department of Diabetes.
Professor Ricardo, who leads Monash BDI’s Kidney Regeneration and Stem Cell Laboratory, has an international reputation for discovery research in stem cell and organ development and also for the clinical translation to improve patient management.
The team will work on a new drug delivery system for diabetic complications. The project will develop a tissue-engineering approach using a newly developed hydrogel, to directly deliver new therapeutic drugs to the target organ, improving the efficiency of drug delivery.
The researchers propose to tag the hydrogel with a new drug that would reduce inflammation and prevent the scarring in the kidney that leads to organ failure. The hydrogel can also encapsulate stem cells to improve survival and efficacy for cell therapy.
“The hydrogel breaks down very slowly over time and will enable a semi-permanent delivery system into the eye to help reduce leaky blood vessels that are the hallmark of diabetic eye damage,” Professor Ricardo said.
Currently, patients suffering from diabetic eye disease receive monthly injections into the eye.
“JDRF is proud to support diverse research programs aimed at elevating type 1 diabetes therapies to a new level of care, with the goals of improving health outcomes and quality of life,” said Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D., JDRF Assistant Vice President of Research.
“This hydrogel system is innovative and has the potential to reduce multiple complications for people with diabetes and to enhance the research and development of novel drug-delivery systems for safe treatment of long-term complications.”
Said Professor Mibel Aguilar, a Biophysical Peptide Chemist, and one of the scientists who discovered the hydrogel, “This funding success recognises the cross-disciplinary approach of our team, which combines peptide and organic chemistry and molecular pharmacology for biomaterial and drug design to develop novel approaches to diabetic complications.”
In congratulating the team, Monash BDI Director Professor John Carroll said that new thinking and approaches were vital in tackling the escalating problem of diabetes and the chronic degenerative diseases that went with it.
“The great advantage in the team’s approach is that it is combatting diabetes from many different angles,” he said.
About JDRF
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Our mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than $2 billion in research funding since our inception. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact, and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion, and energy. We collaborate with academic institutions, policymakers, and corporate and industry partners to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout the United States and our six international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D. For more information, please visit jdrf.org or follow us on Twitter: @JDRF.