The diabetes scientists at City of Hope have made several landmark contributions to the field of diabetes research and care over the years:
- In the 1940s, the late Rachmiel Levine, M.D., described the role of insulin in mediating glucose entry into the cell and discovered that the pathophysiological basis for type 2 diabetes was related to a defect in this glucose transport mechanism, a condition termed "insulin resistance."
- In the late 1960s, Samuel Rahbar, M.D., Ph.D., recognized the utility of hemoglobin-A1c measurement as a marker for blood glucose control in the diabetic individual.
- In 1978, Arthur Riggs, Ph.D., and Keiichi Itakura, Ph.D., genetically engineered bacteria to produce unlimited quantities of synthetic human insulin (now called Humulin).
Today, exciting research continues at City of Hope's Leslie & Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Diabetes & Genetic Research Center, where physicians and scientists are exploring a variety of new investigational treatment approaches.
Since the inception of the Gonda Center in June 1997, the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism has evolved significantly in basic science research, clinical investigations and clinical care. Most notably, the Gonda Center established the National Institutes of Health-funded Southern California Islet Cell Resources (SC-ICR) Center, an islet isolation and distribution facility program to support clinical transplantation and basic science research throughout Southern California and beyond. The division currently leads a multicenter islet cell transplantation trial among nine respected academic institutions in Southern California. Other significant advances are being made in the areas of islet generation, immune tolerance induction, molecular mechanisms of diabetes complications, as well as new treatments for diabetes complications, endocrine cancers and supportive care for patients with non-endocrine tumors.
Physicians and researchers in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism are working hard to continue the legacy of their predecessors by exploring a variety of new research and therapeutic approaches that could potentially lead to a cure for diabetes and have far-reaching implications in the treatment of many other diseases.
1949 Discovery of metabolic effects of insulin
1968 Identifying the role of Hg-A1c in diabetes management
1971 Establishment of the Division of Diabetes
1978 First engineering of human insulin in the laboratory
1982 Isolation of specific cell proteins that join with insulin and mediate its metabolic effects
Late 1980s Enhancement of the Clinical Diabetes Care Program
1991 Establishment of the Diabetes Education Program
1992 Establishment of the Diabetes & Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program
1993 Inaugural Community Diabetes Symposium held
1994 Establishment of Male Sexual Medicine Program
1997 Inauguration of Leslie & Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Diabetes & Genetic Research Center
2000 Inaugural International Levine Symposium on Diabetes and Obesity Research
2001 Establishment of the Southern California Islet Consortium
2004 First islet cell transplantation at City of Hope
