Ten years ago, access to comprehensive, multidisciplinary diabetes care was not available in New York. Now, thanks to the generous contributions of Russ Berrie, founder of Russ Berrie and Company, Inc., and others, a new standard of diabetes care is available to the 1 in 8 million people with diabetes in the New York area.

The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, named after Russ Berrie's mother who, like her son, had diabetes, opened in October 1998 at the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion at Columbia University Medical Center. The Berrie Center combines unprecedented family-oriented patient care and education with world-class diabetes research programs.

The Berrie Center now cares for more than 10,000 adults and children with diabetes from a diverse socio-ethnic background and includes one of the largest pediatric diabetes programs, one of the highest number of patients with adolescent-onset type 2 diabetes, and one of the most comprehensive insulin pump programs in the country. The Berrie Center is a leader in the recruitment of minority research subjects into diabetes clinical trials. Among the most unique aspects of the Berrie Center is the integration of clinical and research activities, which creates a unique environment where science informs therapy. Research efforts, led by more than fifty Columbia University scientists, focus on the causes and cures of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, obesity, and the prevention of complications from the disease.

"The Center's physical space and approach to patient care is devoted to the fact that patients have active and productive lives," says Dr. Robin Goland, co-director of the Berrie Center. "In essence, the Berrie Center was designed to respect the dignity of people with diabetes."

For more information, visit nbdiabetes.org

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