The Yale School of Medicine and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) today announced that the Stop and Shop Supermarket Company has become the corporate supporter of its research center, now officially called The JDRF Center for the Study of Hypoglycemia at Yale University—Generously Supported by The Stop and Shop Supermarket Company. “We are pleased to have The Stop and Shop Supermarket Company join our team to spearhead this cutting edge research into hypoglycemia,” said Dennis D. Spencer, M.D., Acting Dean, Yale School of Medicine. “Diabetes extracts a high toll on individuals and families, and The JDRF Center for the Study of Hypoglycemia at Yale University-generously supported by The Stop and Shop Supermarket Company will bring new discoveries and treatments to light.”
The JDRF Center was originally established at Yale in December of 2000 to advance multidisciplinary research into the effects of hypoglycemia — low blood sugar — on the central nervous system, and how to prevent it. Hypoglycemia is currently the major factor limiting the effective treatment of juvenile, also called type1 diabetes with insulin. In individuals with type 1 diabetes, hypoglycemia can occur even with a careful regimen of blood sugar monitoring and insulin injections. Hypoglycemia can cause confusion, abnormal behavior and seizures. Coma and death can result in extreme cases. Normally, symptoms like lightheadedness or hunger can signal low blood sugar, but a severe episode of hypoglycemia can impede the body’s ability to detect the next hypoglycemic episode, a phenomenon termed hypoglycemia unawareness.
“We are thrilled to recognize the remarkable contributions that the associates, customers, and vendors of The Stop and Shop Supermarket Company have played over the years in supporting juvenile diabetes research,” said JDRF president and CEO Peter Van Etten. “Together, we are poised to make significant contributions toward our shared vision of a future free of diabetes and its devastating complications.”
Robert Sherwin, M.D., the C.N.H. Long Professor of Medicine in the section of endocrinology at Yale, is director of the JDRF Center. For nearly three decades, Sherwin’s laboratory has been actively engaged in diabetes research focused on intensive insulin treatment, hypoglycemia and the autoimmune mechanisms that cause type 1 diabetes. For this work he has received the David Rumbough Award for scientific achievement from the JDRF.
“The Stop and Shop Supermarket Company collaboration will aid in our effort to develop new hypoglycemia prevention strategies and protect the brain from the adverse effects of this serious complication,” said Sherwin. “We believe that by taking advantage of the state-of-the-art technical resources available at Yale through our unique blend of researchers from pediatrics, internal medicine, diagnostic radiology, psychiatry, neurosurgery and the Nursing School, we are well positioned to create novel therapies that will improve the lives of our patients. This impressive partnership will bring us one step closer to a cure for juvenile diabetes and its complications.”
William Tamborlane, M.D., professor and section chief of pediatric endocrinology, is researching the use of new technology to reduce or prevent the incidence of hypoglycemia events.
“We are taking much better care of children with Type 1 diabetes than ever before,” said Tamborlane “However, Hypoglycemia and its potential adverse consequences remains a huge obstacle to obtaining optimal diabetes control.”
Over the past nine years The Stop and Shop Supermarket Company, through their generosity, and the generosity of their associates, customers, and vendors, have raised over $3.6 million for diabetes research. In 2003 Stop and Shop increased the participation of several of their vendors and ran percentage of sales promotions with George Weston Bakeries, Interstate Brands, Polar Beverages and Coca-Cola. These creative, first time initiatives combined raised over $100,000 for JDRF. Next year Stop and Shop has set a fundraising goal of $1,250,000 for JDRF.
For more information on JDRF, please contact Peter Cleary at (212) 479-7553 or pcleary@jdrf.org.
