TGen, Salt River Community, City Partner to Explore Genetic
Basis of Diabetes and Other Diseases
June 2, 2003
Officials from the Translational Genomics Research Institute
(TGen), the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the City
of Phoenix today announced a partnership aimed at studying the
genetic basis of diabetes and other debilitating diseases. As with
many diseases, genetic factors play an important role in the
development of diabetes. This is particularly important in Pima
Indians, who have among the highest rates of this disease.
Taking a first step toward fighting the affliction, officials from
the TGen, the Salt River Community and the City of Phoenix today
completed the formal funding agreements initially outlined when
TGen was formed in June of last year. In the agreement, the
Community commits to provide $1 million a year to support TGen
research for a five-year period.
Joni Ramos, president of the Salt River Community, Phoenix Mayor
Skip Rimsza and Jeffrey Trent, TGens President and Scientific
Director, signed the agreements during a ceremony at TGen
headquarters.
"This is an historic agreement," said President Ramos. "The Salt
River Community is proud to support TGen and its researchers who
have made research on disorders disproportionately affecting Native
Americans a priority. Our hope is that their research into the
genetic causes of diabetes will identify potentially fruitful
avenues for treatment and cure."
"This is exactly what we had in minded when we began the efforts
to establish genomic research in Arizona. We look forward to great
progress," said Mayor Rimsza.
TGen scientists are targeting diseases with a regional impact like
diabetes. "The opportunity to impact a disease that severely
affects one of our countrys leading populations is personally one
of the reasons I came to Phoenix," said Dr. Trent. "All of us at
TGen look forward to working with the members of the Community as
together we address one of their, and our nations, leading health
care problems."
"The success of TGen is all about collaboration. We are very proud
that the Salt River Indian Community is our partner in this
endeavor," said Phoenix Vice Mayor Greg Stanton.
According to the agreement, the Community will provide $1 million
a year to the City of Phoenix, which in turn will give it to TGen.
The funds will be provided by October 30 for the years 2003 to
2007.
Discussions are underway to begin research at TGen which will
focus on the underlying causes of diabetes and ways to deal with
progression of the disease. The goal of these efforts is to aid in
the early diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of individuals at high
risk for developing this disease.
About the SRP-MIC
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is located in
Maricopa County, aside the boundaries of Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale,
Fountain Hills and metropolitan Phoenix. The Community Council,
which is comprised of the President, Vice President and seven
Council members, governs the Community. The population of enrolled
community members exceeds 7000. In addition, the Community consists
of 53,600 acres and maintains 19,000 of those acres as a natural
preserve. For more information, visit the Community web site at http://www.saltriver.pima-maricopa.nsn.us/.
About TGen
The mission of the Translational Genomics Research Institute
(TGen) is to make and translate genomic discoveries into advances
in human health. "Translational research" is a relatively new field
employing innovative advances, such as genome-wide array
technology, and the burgeoning field of computational biology, to
provide the data and tools necessary to identify the genes that
play a role in hereditary susceptibility to disease. For more
information about TGen, visit its Web site, http://www.tgen.org.
