Faces of Technology
Driven to Find
a Cure
Though he didn’t have a personal connection
through a family member afflicted with
diabetes, Dr. Mark Atkinson felt a strong calling
to find a way to treat the disease. Currently
one of the world’s foremost researchers on
Type 1 diabetes, Atkinson developed an
early interest in the disease after his mentor
suggested he pursue the specialty.
“In medical school at the University of Florida,
I studied under Dr. Noel Maclaren who
influenced my work,” said Atkinson. “It wasn’t
until I went to a camp for children living with
diabetes that I saw the challenges firsthand
and realized how strongly I wanted to work
toward making a difference.”
Since then, Atkinson has made it his research
Mark Atkinson, Ph.D.
mission to solve three challenges: predict
who can get the disease, find the cause
and determine a way to prevent it. These
CEO | OneVax, www.onevax.com
daunting tasks have driven him for 30 years,
Education:
B.S., University of Michigan; Ph.D., University of Florida
and although scientists are learning how the
disease develops, there is still a long way to go.
Company:
Located in Gainesville, OneVax is an early-stage
biotechnology company committed to eliminating
Type 1 diabetes by combining biomaterial engineering
with expert immunology.
As director of the UF Diabetes Institute, Atkinson
has a full team of scientists and researchers
behind this mission conducting basic research
to further identify the causes, as well as
translational research to move their findings to
clinical solutions.
To even better serve patients, Atkinson
polio. Because of vaccines, we take for granted that we don’t have to worry
launched the spinout company OneVax with
about diseases like polio or rubella.”
three other scientists who were conducting
research in the institute. As the name implies,
In developing those vaccines, Atkinson and his team are looking at how
the company’s goal is to work toward a
biomedical engineering is making improvements in the design and development
preventive cure in the form of a vaccine.
of compounds that can improve drug delivery systems. OneVax will take
advantage of new compounds like nanoparticles and combine it with the latest
Atkinson compares his quest to that of the
of what is understood about Type 1 diabetes and how it develops. But also key is
March of Dimes in finding a cure for polio.
understanding the immune response when an individual is given a vaccine.
“If they had set out only to treat the disease,
we would have nicer wheelchairs and better
“Through the work we’re doing to further diabetes research, it’s my goal to give
breathing machines. But they targeted
families hope,” said Atkinson. “We will find a way to prevent it — I’m confident of that.
prevention and have successfully eradicated
And I’m hopeful that our efforts will have contributed to it in one way or another.”
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