American Diabetes Association And The University Of Florida
Plans For $10 Million Statewide Infant Screening
Initiative For Type 1 Diabetes

Chris Brazda
University of Florida
(352) 392-1633 (office)
(352) 256-6060 (cell phone)

Bronwyn Reynolds
American Diabetes Association
(703) 549-1500, ext. 2290 (office)
(202) 236-2991 (cell phone)

ORLANDO, Fla. (January 3, 2002)-Infants at risk of developing diabetes will soon have a better chance at early detection and treatment, thanks to an American Diabetes Association and University of Florida plan to establish the nation's first ongoing statewide screening program.

The voluntary program is being made possible through a $10 million commitment from the association to create an endowment over five years to fund the program to be based at the University of Florida College of Medicine, officials announced today. The program is expected to be launched within a year.

Parents of infants identified as being at high risk for developing diabetes will be given the opportunity to have their children monitored throughout their lives for the appearance of antibodies in their blood, which are known to signal the earliest signs of diabetes, often many years before the patient develops symptoms. Parents also will be provided information that will allow them to involve their at-risk children in studies nationwide aimed at preventing type 1 diabetes.

"Early detection and treatment of type 1 diabetes can prevent many diabetes-related maladies, such as blindness, kidney and neurologic disease, heart disease, amputations and stroke," said Tamir Ellis, associate director of the University of Florida Center for Immunology and Transplantation and coordinator of the infant screening project.

"The hope is that through this screening program, children can live a longer, healthier life."

Currently, infants are routinely screened at birth for a number of conditions using a few drops of blood obtained from a heel prick shortly after birth. UF researchers will use similarly collected specimens to determine a child's lifetime probability of developing type 1 diabetes. A smaller-scale nationally funded infant screening program for type 1 diabetes has been under way at four hospitals in Central Florida over the last four years.

"By using genetic markers coupled with the presence of autoantibodies in the blood, we can very precisely predict at a very early age who is at high risk for type 1 diabetes," said Jin-Xiong She, UF geneticist and professor in pathology, immunology and laboratory science and pediatrics. More than 9,000 Florida children deemed at risk for diabetes have been enrolled in the four-year tracking project.

"The experience we have gained in this trial program will help immensely in ramping up the statewide infant screening program," She said. The University of Florida has been performing studies on the history and prevention of type 1 diabetes since the 1970s and currently has 100 faculty, staff and graduate students assigned to diabetes research.

An estimated 16 million Americans have diabetes and more than 800,000 are newly diagnosed each year, according to the association. Diabetes is the nation's fifth-deadliest disease and claims close to 200,000 lives each year.

"On occasion, an area of research is identified that is exceptionally timely and of fundamental importance," said Davida F. Kruger, chairwoman of the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation. "The ability to identify healthy children who are at risk, then determine if they are progressing to disease, creates the distinct opportunity to delay the consequences of diabetes and hopefully someday prevent the disease."

"The University of Florida intends to lead the way in narrowing down and eventually identifying a viable prevention and possibly a cure to type 1 diabetes," said Mark Atkinson, the Sebastian Family/American Diabetes Association professor of diabetes research at UF and director of the university's Center for Immunology and Transplantation. "More than just resources, UF has committed researchers and clinicians working toward the same precious goal."

The American Diabetes Association, through its Research Foundation, will raise $10 million over a five-year period to establish "The American Diabetes Association Research Endowment for the Cure" at the UF College of Medicine. The money, which will be eligible for an equal amount from the state of Florida's matching gifts program, is the largest research funding commitment in the association's history.