2 May 2006

Launch of major fundraising campaign for Diabetes Research

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: 7 - 7.15 PM, TUESDAY MAY 2ND
CITY CHAMBERS, DUNDEE

A major campaign has been launched to raise £3million to support research into diabetes at the University of Dundee. The campaign will improve clinical research facilities at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School in Dundee, and extend clinical research programmes in Perth and Kinross and Angus.

Lord Provost of Dundee John Letford will host the first of three "People’s Launches" at a civic reception in the city on Tuesday May 2nd. Similar launches will be hosted by the Provosts in Angus and Perth in the coming weeks.

The goal of the campaign is to raise £3million over two years and will support three major initiatives:

• State-of-the-art outpatient clinical research facilities in Angus, Perth and Dundee, enabling scientists and doctors to work together to undertake research from "the cell to the community".
• An extension of dedicated diabetes laboratories at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School.
• Clinical research equipment and recruitment of an international researcher to lead research, accelerating the bridging of the gap between the laboratory and the clinic.

Professor Andrew Morris, one of Scotland’s leading diabetic specialists, said, "The University of Dundee already has a long track record of internationally acclaimed diabetes research. But there is an urgent need to strengthen the clinical research facilities across Tayside and Perth for people with diabetes who so willingly support the research effort. Creating an adequate infrastructure will accelerate the research effort, expanding what current researchers are able to achieve and create a research environment which will attract other leading researchers into Tayside."

Campaign chairman Michael Archibald, a Perthshire businessman and himself a diabetes sufferer said, "We want to appeal to the community right across Tayside and Perthshire with this campaign - it’s crucial that people realise the seriousness of the rising incidence of diabetes and how improved clinical research facilities can have a real impact on patients’ lives. We are immensely grateful to the Lord Provost of Dundee and the Provosts of Perth and Angus for helping us launch our campaign and we hope to inspire people across the region to help us raise our goal of £3m."

In addition to the £3 million campaign of public fundraising, there will also be significant investment from NHS Tayside, including £650,000 which has been granted from the NHS Tayside Endowment Fund.

NHS Tayside Chief Executive Professor Tony Wells said, "Our healthcare workers, doctors and nurses work closely with researchers and scientists and it is by developing this collaborative approach that we will continue to find out more about diabetes and improve services and treatments for patients."

The campaign is being launched with three civic receptions - "The People’s Launches" - in Dundee (May 2 nd), Perth and Kinross (May 30th) and Angus (June 12th). Local fundraising plans will be announced at each of the receptions.

The University has been hailed as a "world-leading centre" for research into diabetes and is home to the Dundee Diabetes Research Centre, which hosts over 25 research teams engaged in diabetes research, ranging from the study of single molecules to complex clinical studies.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Dundee was hailed as "a world-leading centre" for research into diabetes by Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, on a visit to the University in August 2005. Diabetes UK are a major funder of diabetes research at the University.

The Dundee Diabetes Research Centre is a joint venture between the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing, currently hosting over 25 research teams that have a shared interest in diabetes research, ranging from the study of single molecules to complex clinical studies. Professor Dario Alessi, diabetes researcher in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit at the School of Life Sciences, is Director of the Diabetes Research Centre.

Professor Andrew Morris, also Scotland’s lead clinician for diabetes, is based within the Medical School at Ninewells Hospital. Professor Morris co-ordinates a collaborative research programme that looks at health informatics of diabetes (DARTS/MEMO Collaboration), the clinical epidemiology of diabetes and genetic epidemiology of diabetes (with the Biomedical Research Centre). Prof Morris also plays a leading role in the Generation Scotland project (www.generationscotland.org)

The Medical School, in collaboration with NHS Tayside, hosts the £2 million development of SCI-DC, the national diabetes computing system for Scotland. The cardiovascular implications of diabetes are being explored in collaboration with The Institute of Cardiovascular Research, also based at Ninewells Hospital.

The Tayside NHS Board Endowment Fund represents monies held in trust on behalf of the ordinary people of Tayside, who through fundraising efforts or legacies have chosen to allocate sums to NHS Tayside. The funds are not used directly for patient care but may be used for patient comforts in wards and departments and, in this case, to support clinical research.

For media enquiries contact:

Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk