Fall 2007
In this Issue:
Focus On Biomaterials
The Penn State Institute for Diabetes and Obesity
What began as an informal collaboration of diabetes focused researchers at the University Park and Hershey campuses five years ago has grown into a virtual institute, with some 70 researchers engaged in every aspect of the struggle to improve the lives of those suffering from diabetes.
In 2007, the Penn State Institute for Diabetes and Obesity (PSIDO) began the formal process to be recognized as one of the Penn State institutes reporting to the senior vice president for research, Eva Pell. Recognizing the strong connection between obesity and type 2 diabetes, the former Center for Diabetes Research took its current name. The Institute is located on the University Park campus in Henderson Bldg., in space provided by the College of Health and Human Development, and on the Hershey campus in the south wing of the Medical Center. The Institute’s goal is to increase the scientific and medical knowledge needed to eradicate diabetes and help those with diabetes to live a better life.
With five focus areas that include molecular mechanisms of diabetes, lifestyle modification, improved care, biomedical devices, and systemic impacts, the PSIDO is creating a new model of diabetes health care involving the whole diabetes community. As leader of the bioengineering focus, Nadine Barrie Smith brings Penn State’s world class materials and engineering expertise to the service of clinical diabetes care.
“Nadine has an uncanny ability to take complex engineering solutions and present them clearly to non-engineers in a way that leads to technological solutions. She has been an ideal person to lead the Programmatic Area on ‘Engineering approaches to improve diabetes and obesity care’ with the Penn State Institute for Diabetes and Obesity. Her work on using ultrasound as a means to deliver drugs [such as insulin] and extract glucose non-invasively for measuring for those with diabetes has amazing potential to truly improve the lives of those living with diabetes.” Robert Gabbay M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director of the Penn State Institute for Diabetes and Obesity.
