The UC San Diego Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health is a networked organization devoted to integrating clinical and preclinical education, care and research for the treatment and prevention of diabetes and associated metabolic disorders.
Over 30 million Americans suffer from diabetes (including 15% of Californians), with another 90 million with pre-diabetes. The disease impacts over 25% of those 65 and older, and both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are on the rise in every age group.
Contributing to the epidemic, over two thirds of the population are obese or overweight, as are one third of American children. Diabetes causes over 250,000 deaths/year in the US, produces numerous cardiovascular complications, and is the leading cause of kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness and nontraumatic limb amputation. Diabetes alone incurs over $245B in annual costs in the US. Obesity provides an additional risk factor for many other diseases, including asthma, psoriasis, arthritis, fatty liver disease, Alzheimer’s and other senile dementias and cancer. Thus, metabolic health is a key to the treatment and prevention of numerous chronic diseases.
UC San Diego and affiliated institutions have a long history of excellence in diabetes care and research, with numerous world-renowned scientists and clinicians. The mission of the UC San Diego Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health is to develop successful approaches to the understanding, prevention and treatment of diabetes and related metabolic diseases, and coordinate activities with other related disease-oriented centers in the La Jolla region. The Institute enhances interactions and collaborations among the clinicians and research faculty working on both the causes and complications of diabetes and obesity; identifies opportunities for new recruitment to compliment and expand the scope of current research efforts; exploits technologies in modern biology, chemistry and bioengineering for diabetes and obesity research; and ties together insights from clinical and preclinical arenas to generate new therapeutic approaches to these devastating diseases.