Calibr, JDRF partner to research on promising type 1 diabetes therapeutic targets

The California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr) and JDRF announced a partnership today to apply Calibr's drug discovery expertise to type 1 diabetes research projects in collaboration with academic investigators from JDRF's network. Termed the Translational Academic Research Partnership, the jointly funded Calibr-JDRF program will establish collaborative projects focused on promising type 1 diabetes therapeutic targets and the discovery of early drug leads for validation and follow-on development.  The initial collaborative projects will be seeded by leading academic investigators working in the area of beta cell biology. Calibr's Matt Tremblay explained the rationale, "The idea is to team up Calibr's chemical and high-throughput screening technologies with the beta cell experts from JDRF's network to validate targets and create new drug discovery programs in areas of novel biology." The first year of the program will focus on promoting survival of pancreatic beta cells as an approach to restoring blood glucose control in type 1 diabetic patients.