Whittier Institute for Diabetes at Scripps Health, Calif.

— -- The Whittier Institute for Diabetes is located in San Diego, California. It is a not-for-profit institute that is a subsidiary of Scripps Health. The institute was initiated 25 years ago, and has as its mission to improve the quality of life for all people with diabetes. As part of that mission, we've created several programs at the Whittier. Those include programs around education, research, and community service.

On the research side, we have a world class islet cell laboratory that is looking for ways to replicate islet cells and stem cells to provide a potential cure for type 1 diabetes.

On the education side, we answer questions for people newly diagnosed with diabetes that are very scared and have no idea where to go next in order to get better control of their diabetes.

And on the community service side, we have a notable program called "Project Dulce" that addresses the highest risk category of patients in this country: our patients from diverse ethnic communities that develop type 2 diabetes at a much higher rate than our other populations. The program works side by side with primary care physicians to deliver better diabetes care and education. The program has also been replicated in other cities throughout the country and has been acknowledged by the department of health services as a program that demonstrates the achievements when you use these types of partnerships. One additional program is our mobile medical unit.

The Whittier Institute has designed a mobile unit that specifically addresses the concerns of diabetes. It's available at health fairs to do diabetes screenings, as well as retinal photo screenings for patients that might be at risk for developing blindness. We're very proud of these accomplishments and programs, and are happy to share the information that we have learned with anybody interested in learning more about these.