Seattle—The Puget Sound's most comprehensive diabetes research and development center has changed its name to Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (PDRI), its Board Chairman Jim Norman announced today.

Moving forward, Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute--alongside the acronym PDRI--will represent the Institute. By keeping 'Pacific Northwest' in its name, the Institute will continue to pay attentive homage to its 52-year history. PDRI was established in 1956 by Dr. William Hutchinson, Sr., and originally named the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation.

The new name comes at a time of scientific program expansion and recognition by the Institute's Board of Trustees that Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (PDRI) better communicates "to the general public who we are and what we do," explained PDRI President and Scientific Director R. Paul Robertson, M.D. "We are equally excited that by clarifying this fact we also reinforce our commitment to translating basic science discoveries into the most promising clinical outcomes for type 1 and type 2 diabetes," Dr. Robertson added.

The scientific and public health mandate reflected in the mission of PDRI--to support and conduct basic and clinical research that lead to the prevention and cure of diabetes and its complications--could not be more important. Recent findings* by the American Diabetes Association indicate the economic costs of diabetes in 2007 reached a national high of $174 billion, including $116 billion in excess medical expenditures and $58 billion in reduced national productivity.

"Stunning global diabetes epidemiological data further underscore the urgency of PDRI's mission. The prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes has skyrocketed, which is why our drive to understand and ultimately conquer diabetes is at full-throttle. Action must be taken and, as a leader in its field, Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute is better poised to do so," said Dr. Robertson (emphasis his).

*American Diabetes Association, "Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2007." Diabetes Care, Vol. 31, No. 3 (March 2008).

About Diabetes: Diabetes takes many forms but is characterized by abnormally high glucose levels in the blood resulting from the body's inability to produce insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels, as in type 1 diabetes, or a combination of insulin resistance and insulin deficiency, as in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes-related health complications are the leading cause of kidney failure, blindness in adults, and leg and foot amputations unrelated to injury in the United States. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), more than 20.8 million Americans have diabetes, though about one-third of them do not know they have the disease. An estimated 41 million additional Americans live with a condition known as pre-diabetes, putting them at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Worldwide, more than 180 million people have diabetes and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates this figure will more than double by the year 2030.

About Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (PDRI): PDRI is a 52 year-old independent, non-profit biomedical and clinical research center located in Seattle and founded by Dr. William Hutchinson, Sr., who also founded the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The mission of PDRI is to support and conduct basic and clinical research that lead to the prevention and cure of diabetes and its complications. PDRI's acclaimed team of 100 scientists is committed to applying scientific discoveries to the real improvement of health for people and families living with diabetes. For more information on PDRI and diabetes research, please visit www.pndri.org or call (206) 726-1200.