As the millennium began, a group of the leading clinical investigators
in diabetes and related areas came together with the goal of improving the
investigative climate for clinical research in diabetes in an organization
known as the Association of Diabetes Investigators. Some of us are located
in major universities. Others are in full time private
practice. Our patient population reflects the widely different
geographic locations of our sites. Some of us practice in rural areas, others
in major cities. Some of us have large African American
populations. Others have a majority representation of Hispanic
patients. Yet, despite these apparent differences, we are
quite similar in our outlooks and approach. We have the unifying
force of many years of joint participation in the protocols which brought
many of the current new diabetes, lipid,
and antihypertensive agents to general use. Our alliance is a realistic
consequence of the many meetings we have attended jointly. We
have had many wonderful discussions at meetings. It
occurred to us that the new medium of the Internet could permit us to share
our thoughts on a more frequent basis than allowed by airline get togethers. We decided to use electronic
communication to develop a Symposium on the major advances which have
improved the care of diabetic individuals over the past decade and the great
hopes we have for further strides in this new millennium.
We have assembled a wonderful
group. Dr. David Bell and Dr. Paresh Dandona
have collaborated on the cardiovascular effects of diabetes and the role of
antioxidants. Dr. Dan Einhorn
and Dr. Marc Rendell have analyzed the
changes in insulin and other pharmaceutical therapies for diabetes while Dr. Arthur Vinik explains the
new world of transplantation and islet cell regeneration
approaches. Dr. Lois Jovanovic
and Dr. Robert Harrison have reviewed
the special issues of diabetes in minority populations and in women. Dr. Bruce Chertow and Dr.
Rendell discuss nutritional
therapy and supplementation in diabetes and the role of antioxidants.
Dr. John Gerich and
Dr. George Dailey consider insulin resistance
as a factor in diabetes. Dr. Aaron Vinik and Dr. Leann Olansky offer their ideas on microvascular
disease and neuropathy. Dr. Peter Bressler and Dr. Neal
Friedman provide a lively counterpoint of Managed Care versus the
physician caring for diabetic patients.
Although each of these
individuals is an expert in their own area, this Symposium is clearly a group
effort. It has been an outstanding experience to see how the
interchange among these brilliant people has led to