Childhood diabetes research gets $3.5M funding boost

Vancouver, BC – British Columbia’s government is investing $3.5 million to help create new research space dedicated to understanding the causes of diabetes in children and developing new therapies for the disease.

The funding will help buy equipment and build new laboratory space for the Centre for Research in Childhood Diabetes (CRCD), to be housed in a new research building at the BC Research Institute for Children’s & Women’s Health.

"This facility has enormous potential to create a powerful and unique diabetes research centre, with close ties to clinicians and patients," says Martha Piper, UBC president. "It will also facilitate the successful recruitment and retention of top young scientists in the emerging field of diabetes research."

The funding comes from the BC Knowledge Development Fund, which provides capital funding for research equipment and facilities for public post-secondary institutions, teaching hospitals and affiliated non-profit agencies. The project also receives support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and private contributors.

To date, the provincial government has approved a total of 431 projects and almost $327 million in funding under the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund. This funding has leveraged $316 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and another $262 million from other non-provincial government sources, for a total investment of about $905 million in BC’s research infrastructure.