The program, under the direction of Prof. Benjamin Glaser, Director of Hadassah’s Endocrinology and Metabolism Service, and Dr. Yuval Dor, Department of Developmental Biology, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC) at The Hebrew University, and in collaboration with scientists from Pfizer PharmaTherapeutics Research and Development, will be jointly funded by JDRF and Pfizer. The research team will focus on the preclinical evaluation of certain proprietary Pfizer compounds as candidates to promote beta cell replication and regeneration. “Drugs that can stimulate the replication of insulin-producing cells and expand beta cell mass have the potential to reverse Type 1 diabetes,” explains Alan J. Lewis, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of JDRF. “This program may accelerate one of JDRF’s key research goals: to find ways to restore the body’s ability to make insulin.”