Auburn University, known nationally for its role in animal health care, has filled an endowed position devoted to diabetes research to benefit humans as well as animals.

Associate Professor Robert Judd has been appointed as the interim Boshell Chair in Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at AU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Judd, who joined the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology in 1998, has spent 13 years performing diabetes research, including three years in post doctoral work at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“He has become nationally recognized in diabetes research,” said Dr. Timothy Boosinger, dean of the veterinary college. “This is an exciting announcement that will shed new light on diabetes and its causes and treatments.”

The Boshell Chair position is funded through an endowment established six years ago by the Birmingham-based Diabetes Trust Fund in honor of its founder, the late Dr. Buris R. Boshell. The Diabetes Trust Fund, an international non-profit organization devoted to finding a cure for diabetes and improving the quality of life for diabetics, contributed $600,000 before Dr. Boshell’s death in 1995. The fund has since grown to more than $1 million through interest and a contribution from AU's Scott-Ritchey Research Center.

“Dr. Boshell’s vision of finding a cure for diabetes and for providing the finest possible care for those suffering from the disease is alive and well,” said Diabetes Trust Fund President Ron Creel. “We will continue our efforts and will not rest until a cure for diabetes is found.”

Dr. Boshell was a 1947 AU agriculture graduate who attended the veterinary college for two years before transferring to Harvard Medical School. He served on the faculty of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center and was instrumental in establishing its Diabetes Research and Education Hospital. He also built the Boshell Diabetes and Endocrine Center in Birmingham.

Funds generated by the Boshell endowment will enhance Auburn University’s diabetes research efforts and will allow for new areas of study.

“Diabetes is a devastating disease that affects more than 16 million people in the United States, and a third of them do not realize they have it,” said Dr. Judd, whose father was diagnosed with the disease in 1993. “It can strike at any age.”

In April the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared that diabetes is at an epidemic level due to increased prevalence of obesity and increased diagnosis of diabetes in young adults and children.

The disease occurs in humans and animals when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or cannot properly utilize it. This makes it difficult for blood sugar to enter the body’s cells, and if left untreated, it can lead to blindness, kidney failure, stroke, amputations, and the increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

"The Diabetes Trust Fund should be commended for this support that honors Dr. Boshell," Dr. Judd said. "The funds will enhance our research efforts and put us in a better position to obtain additional grants from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health."

The Boshell endowment will supplement Dr. Judd’s NIH-funded study on cardiovascular complications caused by diabetes, which focuses on endothelin-1, a compound that is increased in the blood of individuals with diabetes. Later this month, Dr. Judd and co-investigator Dr. Dean Schwartz will present information at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting about an investigational drug that reverses some heart problems that occur in diabetic patients.

Also strengthened by the Boshell fund will be an AU study on the critical relationship between obesity and diabetes, as well as a research project involving the role of resistin, a peptide released from fat which could possibly be a factor in the development of diabetes.

“We want to increase our collaborative efforts with other institutions, too,” said Dr. Judd, who has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where he served five years on the faculty.

“We already have joint projects with the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. We want to work with area hospitals, diabetes groups and educators, and let them know what we are doing at Auburn University, so we can serve as resources for each other.”

Mrs. Martha Boshell and her late husband are responsible for more than $350,000 donated to the AU Honors Program; 5,000 volumes from Dr. Boshell’s personal library presented to the AU library system; and gifts made to the university’s Hotel and Conference Center.

“We are proud to be a part of the legacy that Dr. Boshell left to Auburn University and to the citizens of Alabama,” Dean Boosinger added.