Australia and Israel on groundbreaking diabetes development
NSW and Israeli Governments are supporting Israeli medical research company Kadimastem and the Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research’s Bioengineering Diabetes Therapy Project aiming to remove the need for insulin injections and pumps for diabetes patients.
Dr Alon Levy and Dr. Denise A Berti with Ambassador Chris Cannan
Professor Bernie Tuch has been working on the use of stem cells to produce new insulin-producing beta cells and encasing them in protective micro-capsules made from alginate – a gel-like substance obtained from seaweed.
The device allows nutrients into the capsules and insulin to flow out into the bloodstream while protecting the beta cells from the malfunctioning immune system.
Professor Tuch said: “In June, the Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research sent our Research Fellow Dr Auvro Mridha to transplant the Israeli cells inside our bioengineered device.
Whilst he was there, Eric Goldberg from AusTrade came to visit, and he was impressed by the degree of cooperation between the Israelis (Kadimastem Ltd) and us (Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research).
Word has filtered out from there, which I believe prompted the visit of the Australian Ambassador to Israel, Chris Cannan, who visited Kadimastem last Wednesday.”
The Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research is currently undergoing preclinical work with plans to visit Israel in the next month.
“It has shown excellent collaboration between our two countries” Bernie Tuch
Ambassador Chris Cannan added: “The work being undertaken by Kadimastem and the Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research could lead to a major breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes, a disease which affects millions of people worldwide. This collaboration is a great example of the growing research and technology links between Australia and Israel – particularly in the biotech sector. We are also seeing growing demand among Israeli life science companies to run their clinical trials in Australia”.
Thank you both for what you are doing! I have had juvenile diabetis for over 40 years and have suffered many complications and I have hoped for a break through like this for so long. Keep up the Great work you are doing and again THANK YOU!