Dr. Weir

The second annual International Motor City Diabetes Symposium hosted some of the world’s foremost authorities on Type 1 diabetes mellitus, when they convened at Wayne State University this past fall.

"There has been tremendous progress in the fields of pancreatic beta cell function, immunology and genetics of Type 1 diabetes," said Anders Sima, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and neurology, and co-chair of the symposium. "Drs. Weir and Newgard are to be credited with the foundation of that progress. We are proud to have had them here to share their expertise."

Gordon Weir, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard’s Joslin Diabetes Center, and Christopher Newgard, PhD, professor of biochemistry and internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, were among the keynote speakers.

Dr. Weir presented his research on the possibilities of transplanting insulin-producing cells from animals into humans and the challenges the medical community faces in overcoming immune-system rejection of the cells. Dr. Newgard discussed his work in attempting to teach non-insulin-secreting human cells to produce insulin. He, too, addressed concerns regarding how to prevent the immune system from attacking the genetically-altered cells.

Wayne State researchers also presented work regarding the prevention and treatment of diabetes complications affecting the peripheral and central nervous system.

"Our goal is to enhance interactions among investigators to accelerate progress in diabetes research," said Dr. Sima.