The Alberta Diabetes Institute at the University of Alberta has announced a new collaboration with Janssen Inc. in Canada to advance early-stage technologies related to Type I and Type II diabetes. Janssen is part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.
The Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Research Fund is a newly-created $600,000 partnership, funded between Janssen, the Government of Alberta, and the Alberta Diabetes Foundation. The three year competitive fund, administered by U of A's Alberta Diabetes Institute, will support research in either Type I or Type II diabetes with a focus on novel, discovery research with a high potential for commercialization.
"Alberta's decades-long commitment to diabetes research has brought ground-breaking discoveries and better quality of life for diabetes sufferers, " said Fred Horne, Minister of Health. "Working collaboratively with our innovation system, Campus Alberta and across the public and private sectors, means we can move promising discoveries to the marketplace faster where they can help Albertans and people worldwide."
Through the collaboration, the Alberta Diabetes Institute and technical experts from Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in California will jointly identify several high-potential opportunities from medical researchers across Alberta and award up to $50,000 for one (1) year including indirect costs from the Research Fund. All aspects of diabetes research are eligible to apply for funding. Proposals are expected to lead to further development of drugs, devices, cell therapies and processes that relate to the diagnosis, treatment and management of Type I or Type II diabetes.
"Advancing the care of people living with Type I or II diabetes is a priority for us," said Dr. Douglas Miller, dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "This collaboration of funding partners exemplifies the good will of the private, public and philanthropic organizations to work together to best serve patients. Only by scientists working together across Alberta will we find better treatments."
Letters of Intent are currently being accepted and instructions can be found by visiting the Alberta Diabetes Institute website: http://www.adi.ualberta.ca/researchfund.aspx. The first call for Letters of Intent closes on April 30, 2014.
Over 9 million Canadians currently live with either pre-diabetes or Type I or Type II diabetes, and this private-public partnership fund will accelerate the development and validation of healthcare technologies within Alberta which is known for life-changing research in the causes, prevention, treatment and management of diabetes.