The University of Akron has long been renowned for its advances in polymers innovation. Now work by two UA researchers is bringing those advances into the treatment of diabetes, a disease that affects 23.6 million adults and children in the United States.

UA researchers Dr. Joseph Kennedy, distinguished professor of polymer science and chemistry, and Dr. Miko Cakmak, professor of polymer engineering, collaborated on a bio-artificial pancreas technology that could free millions of diabetes patients from painful daily prick testing and self-injections to maintain proper insulin levels, in effect allowing them to function as though they did not have the disease.  

The innovation, under development by UA and university spinout company KenCak LLC, utilizes a biocompatible, polymer-coated nanofiber tube populated with insulin-producing cells from a pig. The polymeric device allows pig pancreatic islet cells, or PICs, to be implanted under the skin at a location in the body where the blood supply is large enough to deliver the needed amount of insulin. The seven-centimeter polymer tubule could be easily removed and replaced as often as necessary to maintain proper blood sugar levels. 

For their work, which includes several patents on technology and process, Kennedy and Cakmak received the 2009 NorTech Innovation Award in the biosciences category from the Northeast Ohio Technology Association.

Other collaborators included  Dr. George Newkome, president of the University of Akron Research Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.

The University of Akron is a research leader, with more than $48 million in sponsored research and 115 active projects in 2009. U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked UA's polymer science and polymer engineering program No. 2 in the nation.