Posted by Robert Graham, Jr. on May 18, 1997 at 17:05:08:
I read the letter from Terry Harris about JDFs COUNTDOWN magazine. I had barely scanned the Winter 1997 Countdown when it came in the mail to my clinic but Terry’s letter caused me to go back through it with a fine tooth comb. What I saw finally made me understand why diabetes research is going nowhere. My Dad, Bob Graham, Sr. (guess what he died of at my present age and after fewer years with the disease), was a preacher (no relation to Billy). So let me start my sermon and I hope you can follow along in your copy of Countdown.
Negligence or cover-up?
I have been getting Countdown and calling the JDF regularly for years asking about the latest research on a cure for diabetes. Not once was I told about the work of Robert Elliott, Antony Sun, VivoRx or Encelle. The first time I heard of any of them was on the Islet Foundation home page. What’s the matter here, does JDF not know what’s going on in its own field? Or does JDF not want me to know?
JDFs biggest achievement?
Mike Overlock, chairman of the board of JDF, wrote a truly humbling editorial on page 6 called Moving Forward. He tells us "In just 26 years we have learned that tight control of blood glucose reduces the chances of developing complications." Glory be! In just 26 years we were blessed with this revelation thanks to JDF! And with a mere $211 million. And this is the most significant accomplishment that he can think of?
We don’t use 8-track anymore!
Everybody tells me that the big problem with islet transplants is rejection. So we need to have safe methods to prevent rejection. On page 39 of Countdown you discuss the current methods of preventing rejection, in particular "16 new immunosuppressive drugs currently under development worldwide." As my daughter would say, "Hello! Anybody home? Have you never heard of encapsulation?" In a few days of research I have learned that almost nobody sees the need for immune-killing drugs for islets since they can be coated. Has nobody let JDF in on that little secret?
Oh those quaint lay people!
And there is the line on page 50 that Terry pointed our that tells me just what JDF thinks of my opinion. So the lay committee members are "experts only in their desire to find the cure." Like Terry I have received more solid information from lay people than I ever have from JDF or its researchers. Maybe we should say that JDFs panel of reviewers are "experts only their failure to do anything useful for diabetics for 25 years." Or "experts only in their ability to keep the gravy train rolling."
How we help our friends!
And then we come to the $5 million dollar research grants. With the research out there that has the potential to do something useful for us in the next year or so, you have dumped all our money into make work projects. Let’s look at some of the project titles. "Dynamics of T-cell target interaction in autoimmunity." "Regulatory autoreactive T cells in insulitus and IDDM." "Markers and mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in insulin-dependent diabetes." "Nitric oxide, oxidative stress, and vascular disease in diabetes." "Diabetic autoimmunity." "Genetic dissection in autoimmune pathogenesis." None of this research will lead to a cure in the life of the grant. Yet you have not given significant money to even one of the promising researchers who, if successful, would spell the end of all this other investigation. Who cares about mechanisms of complications when you have cured the disease?
Slick, slick, slick!
And how much of our money went into the prize-winning photography, with the staged lighting, special effects and studio quality? This whole magazine is about slick public relations not about information. And certainly not about curing diabetes.
Athens, a bargain vacation!
So you decided to hold the World Conference on Diabetes Research in Athens, Greece (page 8). Why not New Jersey? How did this little extravagance help those suffering and dying from diabetes? Did you invite Sun, Elliott, VivoRx and Encelle?
You won’t even let me talk!
Ever notice that there are no letters to the editor in Countdown? Is this another example of what you think about the involvement of anybody outside your cozy inner circle?
Wake up!
When I spoke to Allan at the Islet Foundation he said that JDF may be improving and that we should not throw the baby out with the bath water. Hey Al, wake up! There is no baby. Just dirty bath water with the scum floating to the top.
Bob, Jr.