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The results of the world's first multicenter clinical trial of islet transplantation have confirmed the technique's potential benefits in patients with difficult-to-control type 1 (or "juvenile") diabetes. Published in the September 28, 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the international team of investigators report that the Edmonton Protocol for islet transplantation can safely and successfully promote long-term stabilization of blood sugar levels in "brittle" diabetes patients and in some cases, relieve them of the need for insulin injections altogether for at least two years.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world's leading charitable supporter of research into type 1 diabetes and its complications, today announced a new, 5-year $15 million joint funding program with the NIH-supported Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) that is aimed at accelerating the pace of clinical research towards a cure for type 1 diabetes.  The JDRF-ITN Partnership in Immune Tolerance program will fund early-stage clinical trials and late stage preclinical development of potential immune tolerance-inducing treatments for type 1 diabetes.  Applications for support will be accepted on an ongoing basis through the ITN website beginning today.

The Immune Tolerance Network today released updated results from its multicenter clinical trial of the Edmonton Protocol for islet transplantation. The results provide further confirmation that transplantation of pancreatic islet cells can safely and effectively eliminate the need for daily insulin injections in patients with type 1 diabetes. The expanded results, encompassing the entire cohort of 36 patients enrolled in the trial also confirms that the technique can be successfully applied at multiple clinical centers.