New York, NY— May 18, 2007 -- The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the world’s largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, announced today that Dr. David Serreze, senior staff scientist at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, is the recipient of the 2007 Gerold & Kayla Grodsky Basic Research Scientist Award. The award, among JDRF’s most prestigious, will be given to Dr. Serreze at an awards ceremony tonight at the Marriott Financial Center in downtown Manhattan.
"JDRF is in the business of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. As such, we work with world-class researchers who share our mission and are making significant progress towards that goal," said Dr. Richard Insel, Executive Vice President of Research at JDRF. "After careful consideration of many excellent candidates, we are thrilled to acknowledge Dr. Serreze for his outstanding work in accelerating the pace of diabetes research."
The Gerold & Kayla Grodsky Award is presented annually to a basic research scientist who has made outstanding contributions to diabetes research. JDRF established the award in 1993 to honor the contributions of Dr. Grodsky’s diabetes research at UCSF over four decades. A gift to JDRF from the Grodskys has made it possible for a monetary award to be presented each year to a Ph.D. researcher who has made an outstanding contribution to the study of diabetes.
Through this year’s award, JDRF recognizes Dr. Serreze’s leadership and innovation in the emerging field of diabetic immunology. The award also reflects his expert advice and service on the JDRF Medical Science Review Committee.
"I’m honored and humbled to receive the Grodsky award from the JDRF," said Dr. Serreze. "Type 1 diabetes is a terrible disease, but with the support of the JDRF family, I hope that work from my laboratory may play some small part in leading to cures for type 1 diabetes."
Dr. Serreze has been with the Jackson Laboratory since 1991. He is also adjunct research professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester. A two-time recipient of JDRF’s Mary Jane Kugal Research Award, Dr. Serreze is the author or coauthor of more than 100 research papers. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Maine.
JDRF is the world’s largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, and was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with juvenile diabetes - a disease that strikes children suddenly, makes them insulin dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Since inception, JDRF has provided more than $1 billion to diabetes research worldwide. More than 85 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and education about research. JDRF's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.
The Jackson Laboratory (www.jax.org), founded in 1929, is one of the world’s leading genetics research institutions, with facilities in Bar Harbor, Maine, and West Sacramento, Calif. Its research staff of more than 450 investigates the genetic basis of cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, diabetes and many other human diseases and disorders. The Laboratory is also the world's source for more than 3,000 strains of genetically defined mice, home of the Mouse Genome Database and many other publicly available information resources, and an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.