Faculty appointed to Kentucky diabetes board
Ken Ramos, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Thomas Mitchell, Ph.D., UofL's Barnstable-Brown Professor of Diabetes Research, have been appointed to the Kentucky Diabetes Research Board.
The board, which held its first meeting in Frankfort earlier this year, was created by the Kentucky General Assembly and will administer the Kentucky Diabetes Trust Fund. Bills creating both the trust fund and the research board were sponsored by state Rep. Bob DeWeese and co-sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian.
The board will consider funding grant proposals from diabetes researchers at UofL and the University of Kentucky.
"Diabetes is epidemic in Kentucky -- we're 13th in the nation for this diagnosis," said Jon Klein, M.D., Ph.D., director of UofL's Clinical Proteomics Center, which performs research to find new tests for diabetic complications.
Klein, who studies kidney disease and is a colleague of Marzian's at UofL's Kidney Disease Program, was an early supporter of the legislation. Kidney disease is a common complication of diabetes.
"As health care professionals, both Dr. DeWeese and Ms. Marzian have seen the devastating effects of this disease every day and understand the importance of funding innovative research in Kentucky," he says.
Mitchell, who studies the role of the immune system in diabetes, agrees.
"One in 10 health care dollars spent in the U.S. is attributable to diabetes," he said.
"Leaders like the Barnstables and Browns have stepped up from the private sector to fund new research, but the more support, the better the outcomes for Kentucky. Our legislators from here in Louisville persuaded their peers in Frankfort that investment in diabetes research is the smart thing to do."
Ramos, who also is director of UofL's Center for Genetics and Molecular Medicine, is excited about the possibilities the board makes possible.
"Creation of the Board will help promote diabetes research among the Kentucky research and medical communities and ultimately help identify mechanisms to control the devastating consequences of this epidemic."
