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GONDA'S SUPPORT ENABLES INCREDIBLE DIABETES BREAKTHROUGHS
The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Diabetes and Genetic Research
Center at City of Hope (COH) is a four-level, 41,000-square-foot building on the Medical
Center campus fully dedicated to clinical and basic science diabetes research. Completed in
1997, the building marked the start of a new era in diabetes research at COH. As a result,
several important clinical and basic science research programs were introduced or expanded
on campus.
An important part of the research expansion included the recruitment of
Molecular Medicine Research Associate Professor Barry Forman, M.D., PhD and the establishment of the
Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory. The Gondas continued their generous support of the diabetes
program during the year 2000 by sponsoring two major undertakings: the internal construction and
state-of-the-art instrumentation of Dr. Forman's laboratory, and the development of the Southern
California Islet Cell Resources (SC-ICR) Center, a large islet isolation and distribution program
for the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes.
The new SC-ICR Center is co-directed by Dr. Fouad Kandeel and renowned Transplant
Surgeon and Diabetes/Endocrinology Research Associate Professor Craig Smith, MD. Support from
the Gonda Foundation was pivotal not only in the development of the islet program, but also in
its success in gaining designation by the National Institutes of Health and Juvenile Diabetes
Research Foundation as one of ten centers nationwide responsible for islet isolation and distribution.
As a result, the Gonda Center is now heading a Southern California multi-center clinical trial for
islet transplantation, and provides a shining example of how one philanthropic family can provide
support that eventually benefits millions.
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(L-R) Fouad Kandeel, MD, PhD; Leslie Gonda; Craig Smith, MD |
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(L-R) Fouad Kandeel, MD, PhD; Leslie Gonda; Barry Forman, MD, PhD |
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Southern California Islet Consortium 