UMass Chan professor to lead New England diabetes initiative

Photo | UMass Chan Medical School Dr. David Harlan

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By Timothy Doyle

UMass Chan Medical School professor Dr. David Harlan will be the new director of the JDRF Center of Excellence in New England, effective immediately.

The JDRF Center for Excellence in New England, one of five such centers, is a collaboration of leading experts from the UMass Chan Diabetes Center of Excellence, Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and the Jackson Laboratory in Maine, according to a Thursday press release. The center was previously led by Dr. Douglas Melton, a co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge.

Harlan has been serving as the William and Doris Krupp Professor of Medicine, professor of medicine, and co-director of the Diabetes Center of Excellence at UMass Chan and will continue in these roles. He has spent almost 40 years studying the underlying causes of Type 1 diabetes, once called Juvenile Diabetes.

“For many years, JDRF has supported the collaborative work of Dr. Harlan and his colleagues in the Greater New England area,” Esther Latres, JDRF assistant vice president of research, said in a press release. “Under Dr. Harlan’s leadership, we anticipate continued progress toward a cure for type 1 diabetes using stem-cell derived beta cell and islet therapies.”

JDRF is based in New York City and was established in 1970 to fight Type 1 diabetes through research. Previously known as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the organization changed its name to JDRF as it became known that equal numbers of adults and children, approximately 110 people each day, are diagnosed with the disease. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which attacks the cells in the pancreas producing insulin.