Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center, N.Y.

— -- My name is Mary Pat Gallagher and I am one of the physicians at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes CenterNaomi Berrie Diabetes Center. The Center combines unprecedented family-oriented patient care and education with a world-class diabetes research program. It also has been named one of three "Diabetes Centers of Excellence" in New York State. Its research program is a vitally important part of the center's mission. Throughout the Berrie Center, world-renowned physicians and scientists are working on studies relating to diabetes, its complications, its treatment, its prevention and its cure. Our philosophy is that having a world-class research facility in conjunction with a world-class treatment facility is beneficial for the center's patients. They can participate in clinical trials and get firsthand experience with the latest diabetes treatments. Patients participating in the studies get the added convenience of having that research conducted at the same location where they receive treatment. All patients, even those not participating in clinical trials, have the added benefit of being treated by top-notch physicians who also conduct diabetes research or are well positioned to bring the latest research findings to the patient as rapidly as possible. Among the studies being undertaken here is the randomized, controlled trial of Rituximab, an immune-modulating drug that is used to treat lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and other immune disorders, aimed at preserving beta cell function and insulin secretion in patients who have been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The Center is also conducting trials that relate the development of non-invasive method to image the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas using PET scanning.