Lexington, KY - With Kentucky ranking seventh in the United States for the prevalence of diabetes and obesity, the University of Kentucky is uniquely positioned to become one of the leading centers in the country for research and treatment of these diseases.
The UK board of trustees unanimously voted Dec. 9 to approve the creation of the Barnstable Brown Kentucky Diabetes and Obesity Center. The proposed center will bring together the university's breadth and depth of researchers, educators and clinicians focused on diabetes and obesity to create an internationally recognized center that will focus on state of the art patient care and cutting edge research.
The center will serve as a vehicle to link clinicians and researchers interested in diabetes and obesity from nearly two-dozen colleges and departments, including the College of Medicine, the Graduate Center for Nutritional Sciences, the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry and the College of Nursing.
"You need a broad array of people to become the best," said Dr. Michael Karpf, the university's executive vice president for health affairs. "The development of this center will enable us to be among the very best in the country. There will be more potential for money from the federal government as well as industries."
The center also gives Lexington the potential to build companies as new aids for measuring and monitoring diabetes and treating obesity are developed. New high tech businesses could also be developed by the Center's broad-based research, he said.
Progress on the development of the center was given a boost in November when Louisville, Ky. resident Patricia Barnstable Brown announced that proceeds from the internationally known celebrity Derby fundraiser hosted by she and her sister would be going solely to the center. Tickets to the Barnstable Brown Gala traditionally sell for $1,000 to $2,000 apiece.
The Barnstable Brown family has given $1 million for the center to date, with an additional $1 million pledged in the coming months. The family has also committed proceeds from the Gala for the next three years. Based on previous years, the family estimates the Gala will provide the center with $1.8 to $3 million over that three-year period.
The gala is considered the biggest, most extravagant, star-studded party of the Derby.
Last year's attendees included Edward Norton, Tom Brady, Nick Lachey, Molly Sims, Bill O'Reilly, Terrell Owens and Hugh Hefner. Barnstable Brown and twin sister Priscilla Barnstable, former Wrigley's Doublemint twins, who both were also cheerleaders at the University of Kentucky, initiated it in 1988.
Barnstable Brown says she has personal reasons for wanting the center to be successful. There is a history of diabetes in her husband's family and her husband, Dr. David Brown, died in 2003 due to complications with the disease. She credits UK for outstanding research and patient care in the areas of diabetes and obesity.
"We have a lot of celebrities at the gala," she said. "But when you see the scientists, researchers, doctors and others who are doing the work on this disease, they are the real celebrities."
Despite the economic downturn, she does not anticipate fundraising for the gala to be down. The event has always sold out, she said, and ticket sales are already underway. Numerous celebrities have already given their support.
"What we have had to this point is a group of individuals who do very good work, but do not sit under the same umbrella," said Dr. Jay Perman, UK College of Medicine dean. "What this does is to give us the umbrella to put this all under. It also facilitates the opportunity to get additional funding."
Perman added that the Barnstable Brown center is a virtual one. There are no immediate plans for a building to house the center, but a director for the center could start as early as February, according to Dr. Lisa Tannock. This scientific director would oversee grants administration, financial management, regulatory affairs and personnel. However, the main responsibility of the director would be to facilitate interaction among faculty members. Over 60 interested faculty have been identified so far, she said.
"We have the potential that in the next couple years, we could be among the very best in the country," Dr. Michael Karpf concluded of the center. "In modern research you need a team and this allows us to create and support a team."