Science at the Pub

Science at the Pub brings Sanford scientist Dr. Kurt Griffin to speak on March 15^th at 6 PM at Jim’s Tap, 309 Main Ave. in downtown Brookings. His presentation is titled “Type 1 Diabetes:  Looking beyond insulin therapy.”

Since the discovery of insulin in 1928, replacing this missing hormone has been the only treatment for type 1 diabetes.  While life saving, this medication remains very dangerous and difficult to dose as well as what our bodies are supposed to do on their own.  Further, this approach does nothing to address the underlying autoimmune processes that lead to high blood pressure.  This is the equivalent of treating only heart attacks without any efforts to prevent them by optimizing lifestyle, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

Dr. Griffin earned his PhD in Cell & Developmental Biology (1996) and MD (1998) from the University of Colorado.  He completed pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, and postdoctoral training in Pediatric Endocrinology and Genetics at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.  After seven years on the faculty of the University of Arizona, he was recruited to Sanford Research to head clinical trials for type 1 diabetes as part of the Sanford Project.  He is currently an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of South Dakota and focuses his efforts on clinical trials for type 1 diabetes, with an emphasis on testing immunomodulatory agents to rebalance the autoimmune process at the heart of this disease.

We pass the hat for your donations which go to the Brookings Public Library for providing science education for children from in and around Brookings. Through Family Science Night, books and DVD’s and table top experiments, young minds get more exposure to scientific ideas than they get at school. All of your contribution is given to the library – other funds are used to produce Science at the Pub.

So come and hear Dr. Griffin explain how diabetes works and what research is being done to improve therapy.