Working Together for a Diabetes-free World

More than 30 years ago, Mark Atkinson, Ph.D., was given three research questions he would spend his career trying to solve: What is the cause of Type 1 diabetes? Who may develop the disease — and why? Can we find a cure?

Since then, Atkinson, now director of the University of Florida Diabetes Institute, and Desmond Schatz, M.D., the institute’s medical director for Type 1 diabetes, have resolutely maintained a strong team of researchers to chip away at those questions and to translate their findings to the care of patients. While other institutions often find it challenging to sustain a research endeavor that has the kind of influence and staying power UF’s diabetes program has had over the decades, UF now looks to its third generation of physicians and scientists to make their own mark on the global effort to achieve the ultimate goal: a diabetes-free world. Learn more about the team that's moving UF diabetes research forward in the latest issue of Florida Physician magazine and check out the infographic below for a by-the-numbers look at how diabetes affects patients.