A Historical Look at Diabetes at the University of Michigan

1980s

•  Fajans identifies maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) as a type of diabetes distinct from juvenile-onset diabetes (JOD or type 1 diabetes), and similar to maturity-one type diabetes found in middle age or older groups (MOD or type 2 diabetes); MODY is the only type of diabetes for which the inheritance is known and the responsible genes have been discovered; the identification of MODY as a subgroup of type 2 diabetes was a major piece of the scientific understanding that within known types of diabetes there are various subsets of the disease.

•  The U-M is one of the first medical centers to study insulin pumps as alternative delivery systems for insulin among type 1 diabetes patients.

1983 to 1993

•  U-M takes part in the largest, most comprehensive diabetes study ever conducted - the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial. A clinical study funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the DCCT showed that keeping blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible slows the onset and progression of eye, kidney, and nerve diseases caused by diabetes.

1984

•  U-M's pancreas transplant program is established.

1991

•  Fajans co-publishes the first paper to describes a genetic marker for MODY.

1996

•  The MODY gene is discovered.

1997

Researchers from the U-M Medical Center and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Ann Arbor publish two important diabetes studies - one showing that people who develop type 2 diabetes at an early age can substantially reduce their rates of blindness and kidney failure in later life by tightly controlling their blood sugar level (published in the Nov. 1 issue of The Annals of Internal Medicine ); and another indicating that it is extremely difficult for people with type 2 diabetes to control their blood sugar through conventional use of insulin (published in the Nov. 26 issue of The Journal of the American Diabetes Association ).

1999

•  The U-M receives a landmark $6.6 million grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to conduct research on what causes the complications that develop from heightened blood glucose.

2000

•  The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center for the Study of Complications in Diabetes , a sister center to the MDRTC and the first of its kind to focus exclusively on the complications of diabetes, is launched within the U-M Dept. of Neurology.

2001

•  Alan Saltiel, Ph.D., John Jacob Abel Collegiate Professor of the Life Sciences, becomes the first principal investigator of the U-M Life Sciences Institute; Saltiel brings an international reputation as an insulin expert and focuses his Institute endeavors on understanding how cells respond to insulin's signals.

2002

•  William K. and Delores S. Brehm Professorship for Type I Diabetes Research is established; Dr. Peter Arvan, becomes the chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and is installed as the first occupant of the professorship; Arvan brings his seven-member team from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City .

•  Saltiel becomes the director of the U-M Life Sciences Institute.

2003

•  The U-M launches the Family Centered Experience , a program designed to give medical students direct experience with people living with chronic diseases - diabetes patients are included in this groundbreaking program.

2004

•  William and Delores Brehm donate $44 million to work toward a cure for Type I diabetes.

•  Funding for the MDRTC and JDRFC is renewed, marking the 28th year that the MDRTC has been successfully funded

Sources:

•  Davenport, Horace W. Not Just Any Medical School : The science, practice and teaching of medicine at the University of Michigan , 1850-1941 . Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press. 1999.

•  Davenport , Horace W. University of Michigan Surgeons 1850-1970: Who they were and what they did . Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press. 1993.

•  Davenport , Horace W. Fifty Years of Medicine at The University of Michigan 1891-1941. Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press. 1986.

•  Bentley Historical Library archives

•  Medicine at Michigan Spring/Summer 2004

•  Medicine at Michigan Summer 2002

•  Mayfield, Jennifer. "Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus: New Criteria." American Family Physician. 1998 http://www.aafp.org/afp/981015ap/mayfield.html