About ECDRE
In 2005 Illinois Institute of Technology established a unique diabetes research and education center. The objective of the Engineering Center for Diabetes Research and Education (ECDRE) is to use engineering and scientific techniques to develop treatment modalities for diabetes and its many complications.
ECDRE is the first engineering center in the U.S. to focus on the treatment and cure of diabetes. IIT faculty members, in collaboration with faculty, medical investigators, and clinicians at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Rush University, and Argonne National Laboratory, are working on a variety of diabetes-related research projects. ECDRE is a component of the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering, which is developing a biomedical research thrust on the IIT campus. ECDRE recently received settlement funds for $5 million from a cy pres action related to a diabetes drug. This settlement provides significant funds for enhancing the activities and visibility of the Center.
Primary Research Areas
Currently the primary areas of funding and activity in ECDRE are in the areas of Biomaterials and Vascular Research. These two areas contribute significantly to the treatment of diabetes and complications resulting from this disease.
Research in biomaterials focuses on the development of enabling technologies for Islet Encapsulation, Drug Delivery, Tissue Engineering, and Wound Healing. IIT has ongoing research in synthetic hydrogels for controlled and localized delivery of therapeutic molecules, hydrogels for cell encapsulation, natural hydrogels for tissue regeneration, and patterning technologies for three-dimensional tissue engineering. Encapsulation research complements medical research and practice in islet cell transplantation, to increase the viability of transplanted cells and reduce the dependency on immunosuppressant drugs in patients with Type 1 diabetes.
Researchers at IIT have a strong history of applying engineering approaches in the area of Vascular Research. Many of these efforts are focused on the complications of diabetes, including treatment of peripheral vascular disease, understanding and treatment of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, stimulation and inhibition of angiogenesis, wound healing, modeling blood flow in dialysis, and experimental and modeling approaches to hemostasis and thrombosis.
Additional Research
In addition to these two primary areas, nascent research efforts exist in the area of metabolism. Diabetes is a metabolic disease and a growing strength in research on glucose, fat, and energy metabolism will have a strong impact on treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Research in a number of additional areas continue in ECDRE and the Pritzker Institute, that contribute significantly to efforts in diabetes, including modeling glucose metabolism, modeling of the effects of diabetes on kidneys, automatic control techniques for developing an artificial pancreas with automated insulin pumps, imaging technologies for monitoring disease, human behavior modification, and stem cells as sources for islet cells and tissue regeneration.
Education Within ECDRE
Essential to the goals of the ECDRE and IIT are providing unique educational opportunities in the area of diabetes. The National Science Foundation supported Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) programs have been very successful in attracting undergraduate students for summer internships on diabetes-related research and disseminating educational tools to grades 5-12 science courses to support biology and nutrition themes and contributing to enhancing STEM education. A simulator for illustrating the dynamic variations in blood glucose concentration in response to food and insulin, and software for daily food intake and activity assessment have been developed for scholastic and community education.