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UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine assistant professor receives $1.625M grant award from American Diabetes Association
(Chapel Hill, N.C. – Feb. 12, 2016) – Praveen Sethupathy, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, is one of six scientists to receive a prestigious 2016 Pathway to Stop Diabetes grant award from the American Diabetes Association.
This award comes with $1.625 million over a five-year grant term, along with career support and resources that will enable Sethupathy to apply his talents to transformational research approaches to treat and stop diabetes.
Sethupathy received a Pathway Accelerator Award for a basic research project that seeks to identify the genetic factors that contribute most to shaping the way the host intestine responds to gut microorganisms and dietary challenges.
“These studies are at the interface of systems genetics, non-coding RNA (ribonucleic acid) biology, intestinal physiology and microbiome research,” said Sethupathy. “The findings could lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets that may be leveraged to prevent or effectively treat diabetes and related metabolic diseases.”
This is the third year the American Diabetes Association has provided grants through the Pathway to Stop Diabetes research initiative, which encourages and enables brilliant researchers to commit their careers to diabetes. Sethupathy is Carolina’s second recipient; Zhen Gu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UNC-NCSU joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, received an award in 2015. Gu is using the funds to create synthetic versions of beta cells, the body’s natural insulin-producing factories.
Pathway grants provide investigators with freedom, autonomy, financial support and professional resources that set them on the road to breakthrough discoveries. Program sponsors Sanofi, AstraZeneca, the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation and Novo Nordisk, as well as numerous other generous corporations, individuals and foundations, have donated more than $40 million toward the effort.
“Diabetes is a complex, multifactorial disease that presents significant challenges for discovering methods for prevention, treatment and ultimately cures,” said Dr. Desmond Schatz, president, Medicine and Science, American Diabetes Association. “We need to recruit the best minds to pursue answers to all of the complexities of diabetes and diabetes-related complications so that we can end this devastating disease.“
Grant recipients are chosen by a mentor advisory group, which is comprised of preeminent scientists and leaders in diabetes research. They look for the core elements for exceptional science: rigorous thought processes, keen intellect and capacity for innovation, creativity and productivity. The advisors also provide Pathway grant recipients with mentorship and scientific and professional guidance over the course of their awards.
Other recipients of this year’s awards are:
- Daniel J. Ceradini, M.D., F.A.C.S., Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center
- Zachary A. Knight, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
- Andrew M. Scharenberg, M.D., Seattle Children’s Hospital and Seattle Children’s Research Institute
- Sui Wang, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
- Phillip James White, Ph.D., Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University
To learn more about the Pathway to Stop Diabetes, visit http://diabetes.org/pathway/.
-Carolina-
About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 77 bachelor’s, 113 master’s, 68 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty – including two Nobel laureates – staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 308,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 150 countries. More than 167,000 live in North Carolina.
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