in the 5 years subsequent to their award. These findings indicate that the ADA research funding provided the foundation 1380 DIABETES CARE, VOLUME 35, JUNE 2012 care.diabetesjournals.org Fonseca and Associates —Research is central to many of the key mission activities at the ADA. The ADA directly supports research through the research program, but scientific and medical research in general is also a critical component for many of the other activities that the organization engages in to support people with diabetes, including professional publications and meetings, medical information, community programs, and advocacy. for researchers to successfully compete for further research dollars, thus increasing the prospect of meaningful contributions to scientific knowledge. THE ADA RESEARCH STRATEGY— The ADA supports research across the broad spectrum of diabetes and related disease states (e.g., obesity, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes, gesta-tional diabetes mellitus [Fig. 2A]) and topic areas (e.g., diabetes complica-tions, cell biology, integrated physiol-ogy, epidemiology [Fig. 2B]). Funding decisions are based primarily on scientific merit as assessed during a rigorous peer-review process. The intent behind this funding strategy is first and foremost to serve all people affected by diabetes and its complications. It is increasingly rec-ognized that although type 1 and type 2 diabetes have distinct etiologies, they share many common underlying cellular processes (e.g., inflammation, immune responses, b-cell failure) and are associated with the same diabetes-related complications. By ad-dressing all aspects of the disease, it is likely that research supported through these grants will impact knowledge of treatment and prevention of diabetes generally. Another key aspect of the ADA re-search strategy is to provide a comple-mentary, rather than redundant, source of funding for diabetes researchers. Many of the ADA grant opportunities sup-port areas of high need (early investigators, innovative projects) that may not otherwise be funded or for which bridging/start-up funding may be necessary to compete for future grant support by large federal organizations, such as the NIH. The high success rate of ADA investigators obtain-ing subsequent funding exemplifies the success of this approach. From the anal-ysis of ADA researchers discussed above, an initial investment of ;$56 million from the ADA research program trans-lated into ;$412 million in subsequent research support to these investigators from other sources within 5 years. This not only fills an important need in the research community, but also supports the Association’s mission to fund the most promising and innovative areas of investigation. EXPANDING THE FIELD OF DIABETES RESEARCH— With in-creasingly limited federal budgets and greater competition for diabetes research dollars, early investigators have been dis-proportionately impacted (7), thus limit-ing opportunities for career development. Whereas the average age of newly inde-pendent investigators receiving an initial RO1 from the NIH is reportedly 42 years of age (8), research shows that the ages between 30 and 40 years can be the most productive in a researcher’s career (9,10). Unfortunately, in today’s environment, many early-career scientists have difficulty efficiently transitioning to independent re-search careers and as a result are choosing paths other than academic research. Those who do choose to pursue academic research spend a disproportionate amount of timeapplying for grants, which, in many cases, do not adequately support their research. This detracts from their ability to fully cap-italize on original and uninhibited scien-tific inquiries and approaches during this critical time. The ADA research program strives to bridge this gap through a num-ber of specific grant mechanisms targeting early investigators, who are either in re-search training (i.e., fellowship or post-doctoral positions) or in an early academic career stage (Fig. 3). In 2011, approxi-mately a third of the annual research budget was allocated to these funding opportunities (Fig. 4). This funding is specifically intended to support the ADA’s mission to maintain talent in the field of diabetes research, provide a foundation for career progres-sion, and build a strong scientific case for subsequent federal funding for their work. Thus far, the ADA has successfully accomplished each of these objectives, with 98% of researchers supported through the career development program staying in the field of diabetes research, 87% of them receiving federal funding for their work, and 82% receiving a pro-motion in the 5 years subsequent to their award. Yet despite these successes, it is clear that more is needed to attract and retain talented researchers in the field of diabetes research and to ensure that they have the necessary resources to conduct truly transformational research. To this end, the Association is cur-rently undertaking a capital campaign to support a new and innovative award care.diabetesjournals.org DIABETES CARE, VOLUME 35, JUNE 2012 1381 Commentary The ADA research program supports research across the broad spectrum of diabetes types and research topic areas (proportions of 2011 allocations in dollars). A: The majority of the research portfolio is dedicated to research that is relevant to type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but gestational diabetes mellitus, obesity, and insulin-resistant states are also represented. B: The topic areas represented in the program. frequent opportunities and incentives for interaction and collaboration. Through this effort, the ADA will help launch the next generation of diabetes researchers, while accelerating scientific discoveries that will positively impact people with diabetes. Importantly, this program is incremental and will augment the existing programs. INNOVATION AND TRANSLATION —The Association encourages innovative and translational research through a number of specific programs targeting these areas. Risk toler-ance is a necessary component of support-ing highly innovative and truly translational research as it is difficult a priori to definitively determine the likelihood of success in these areas. However, in the cases where projects are successful, there is an enhanced probability of moving the field ahead rapidly and significantly. The Association’s innova-tion grant mechanisms support ideas with solid theoretical foundations and a high probability to impact patients with diabetes, but without a require-ment for significant preliminary data or previous proof