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CUMC Gets Donation for Diabetes Work
PUBLISHED MARCH 24, 2008
Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital received a $28 million donation last week from the Russell Berrie Foundation for diabetes research.
As part of the gift, CUMC’s Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center will get $21 million for a variety of uses, including a new professorship, continued research and clinical care, and an endowment of the center, which will be embarking on a $25 million fund-raising campaign of its own this year. Funds will also be used for embryonic stem cells specifically geared toward diabetes research.
In a press release, Lee Goldman, CUMC executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences, called the donation “vital to the future of diabetes care and research—both here in New York City and across the nation and the world.”
“The generosity of the Berrie family will bring advances in clinical care to patients suffering from this disease in a targeted and timely way,” Goldman said.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital will receive the remaining $7 million to launch the hospital’s Diabetes Heart Center of Excellence, a program designed to target obesity, as well as to research diabetes and cardiovascular health.
“It is indeed exciting to see this further evolution of diabetes care at the Berrie Center and New York-Presbyterian, including our new focus on the link between diabetes and heart disease,” said Dr. Herbert Pardes, president of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, in the press release. “Our Diabetes Heart Center will address that link, advancing innovative treatments to enhance the lives of patients and their families, and making a significant impact on a major public health problem.”
The donation is the latest in a series of contributions by the Berrie Foundation, formed by the late businessman Russell Berrie. The foundation has donated over $63 million in the past 10 years to diabetes treatment, including a $12 million gift to Columbia in 2003 intended for cellular therapy research. Berrie also founded the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at CUMC, which was the first diabetes research and treatment center in New York when constructed in 1997. Berrie and his mother, Naomi, both had diabetes.
Diabetes, the fifth leading cause of death in the country, is prevalent in about 7 percent of the national population. Almost $200 billion is spent annually on patient care for diabetes, which can lead to a host of other medical problems if left untreated, from heart disease to loss of vision to stroke.
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