Profile of the Research Project we are Supporting

The main area of research for Dr. Sylvie Lesage's team is to inhibit the specific immune response that is responsible for the destruction of the insulin-producing cells within the pancreas, which leads to type 1 diabetes. Being able to block this specific immune response will provide a major step towards the achievement of a cure for this disease. Currently, the only type of therapy used to block immune response actually blocks the immune system over a broad spectrum, which can lead to a number of issues, including making you susceptible to even a low-grade infection.

Dr. Sylvie Lesage's team believes that they have discovered a way to specifically block the immune attach on the pancreas, thus eliminating the secondary effects caused by a broad spectrum therapy. Using this form of therapy, they strongly believe they will be able to:

1) Prevent the development of the immune attack that leads to diabetes in those individuals that would be most at risk of developing the disease.

2) Halt the progression of the attack in recently diagnosed patients. Since new-onset diabetic patients usually still exhibit some level of insulin production, blocking the attack may allow for the reversal of the damage already done.

3) Finally, for diabetic patients that have lost all insulin production, the hope is that by combining cell replacement therapy with this treatment that blocks the autoimmune response against the insulin-producing cells, they can re-create the insulin-producing ability of the human body, thus curing diabetes altogether.

If you would like to help support this very important Canadian based research team please use the secure donation page located on my profile at http://bit.ly/gjpaDQ

To learn more about the team conducting this research please go to http://bit.ly/fX041U