3 May 2010

University management lend support to Diabetes Campaign

The University of Dundee's Principal and Secretary will hope to lead by example, and lead the field, when they take part in the third annual Monikie 10K Race for Diabetes Research this Sunday.

Professor Pete Downes, University Principal, and Secretary Dr Jim McGeorge will join hundreds of other runners who will be raising funds for the University’s Diabetes Research Campaign at Monikie Country Park at 11am on Sunday, May 9th.

The Campaign is close to raising the £3million required to create state of the art research and patient care facilities across Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross, adding to the world-class diabetes research programmes which are already well-established through the University and NHS Tayside.

Professor Downes, who will be running in the race for the second time in successive years, has agreed to personally match the first £100 of sponsorship money he receives as well as pledging to meet further donations if he fails to complete the race in his target time of 52 minutes.

He explained that he had both personal and professional motivations for helping fightone of the world’s fastest growing health problems.

'My concerns about diabetes are very real and tangible because people who are dear to me suffer from this insidious disease,' he said. 'My brother was diagnosed quite recently with type 2 diabetes and the son of a long-standing close friend has juvenile onset diabetes.

'As a student, long ago, I spent two uplifting weeks supervising children with type 1 diabetes as they learned to manage the disease away from the protective gaze of their parents through a scheme sponsored by the British Diabetes Association.

'I am therefore very proud to support the University of Dundee's Diabetes Research Campaign which has already raised more than £2million thanks to the generosity of the Tayside community.

'We still need to raise more to reach our goal of supporting world class research and patient care facilities in the region. The Monikie 10K is the perfect fundraising event because it promotes the kind of healthy lifestyle known to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

'I will be putting my money where my mouth is by running in the event for the second time. If you can't make it yourself, please make sure you generously sponsor one of the runners.'

Runners of all abilities, from serious racers to fun runners, have filled all 300 places for the race, and organisers are hoping to better last year’s fundraising total. The last two races around the idyllic Monikie Country Park have raised more than £8000.

Diabetes is now the fastest growing epidemic in the developed world. It is estimated that more than 300 million people worldwide will suffer from the disease by 2020 and the disease has been recognised by the United Nations as the greatest threat to world health.

It is estimated that the NHS is spending £1million an hour, 10% of its yearly budget, treating diabetes and its complications.

In Tayside there has been a 90% increase in the incidence of diabetes in the last 10 years and the need to develop clinical research facilities across Tayside is urgent.

The Diabetes Research Campaign aims to provide the facilities and technology to enable scientists and doctors to work together to develop better and more effective treatments and to devise preventative strategies for the disease.

The Dundee Diabetes Campaign has also enabled the University to create a Type 1 diabetes research team led by Dr Rory McCrimmon, recruited from Yale, USA.

For more information on the campaign see: www.dundee.ac.uk/drc/.

Andrew Morris, Professor of Diabetic Medicine at the University, explained that the campaign was not just about raising money but increasing awareness of the dangers diabetes poses.

'A race like this is a great way not just to raise funds but also to raise awareness of diabetes and what can be done to prevent it," he said. "Regular exercise, for instance, has a very positive effect in reducing the risk of diabetes.'

Notes to editors:

Scientists at the University of Dundee have made major contributions to the understanding of diabetes, including:

• Leading international clinical trials to work out the best treatments for people with diabetes.
• Leading the Scottish Diabetes Research Network to improve our understanding of all 218,000 people with diabetes in Scotland.Working out the biochemical pathway by which insulin controls the metabolism of glucose.
• Identifying several new proteins that are targets for the development of new drugs to treat diabetes.
• Discovering the enzyme (acronym AMPK) that is targeted by Glucophage, the drug that is used most commonly to treat Type II diabetes.
• Helping pharmaceutical companies to develop new 'lead' compounds for the treatment of diabetes that target another enzyme (acronym GSK3) discovered at Dundee. These compounds normalise the level of blood glucose in animal models of diabetes, and are undergoing further evaluation
• Carrying out research to identify and characterise the key genes that predispose people to diabetes. Over 20,000 people in Tayside have participated in studies led by Professor Andrew Morris and his team at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee - this has led to multiple discoveries of the genetic causes of diabetes.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277