IBRI Scientist Receives $750K Grant

A senior scientist at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute in Indianapolis has received a major grant award. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation named Teresa Mastracci the recipient of the 2016 Career Development Award, which includes a $750,000 grant.

The IBRI says Mastracci will use the grant to continue her efforts to find new drugs that could preserve or regenerate healthy beta cells, which would slow or halt the progression of Type 1 diabetes. Raghu Mirmira, interim chief scientific officer of the IBRI, says the award is "confirmation of the impressive research" being performed by Mastracci.

"I am grateful to the JDRF for this honor and for their continued confidence in my research," said Mastracci. "This award provides my lab with the support we need to continue our discovery work to identify new tests and potential treatments that will directly impact people with Type 1 diabetes."

The IBRI says the award aims to assist "exceptionally promising" researchers who are in the early stages of their careers. Mastracci is also an adjunct professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.