Two University of California-Irvine researchers have received a grant of $1.3 million from New York City-based JDRF to support their work on Type 1 diabetes.
Elliot Botvinick and Jonathan Lakey will use the grant, which runs through July 2019, to continue work on an implantable device with insulin-producing cells that would eliminate the need for lifelong anti-rejection drugs.
JDRF stands for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The name was shortened a few years ago because many adults are now being diagnosed with Type 1 in their 20s and 30s.
Type 1 is a chronic, life-threatening, autoimmune disease that has no known cause or cure. It affects an estimated 1.25 million Americans and costs about $15 billion in U.S. healthcare expenditures annually, the foundation said.
