The University of Michigan received a $44 million donation for a Type 1 Diabetes research center from Bill and Dee Brehm. Mr. Brehm is a 75 year old information technology entrepreneur and Michigan alumni. Brehm's wife, Dee Brehm, suffers from Type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetis.

Brehm founded SRA International, an information science company based in Fairfax, Virginia and is a former State Department official. Mrs. Brehm has suffered from diabetis for over 50 years.

'We want to do something for new diabetics, for these babies and infants just diagnosed,' Dee Brehm told the press. 'I don't want them to undergo the long-term regimen I've had.'

The University of Michigan will now be able to build a $30 million Diabetis research center and hire eight new faculty members to conduct research into finding a cure for the disease.

'The Brehms ignited something that has morphed into a huge advance for the school and the state,' said U of M chief of endocrinology, Peter Arvan.

'We're very impatient with the rate of progress toward a cure,' Bill Brehm said. 'While some wonderful developments have come along, its been 82 years since insulin became available as a therapy. So in some respects, we're not making progress at all.'

The Brehms have now given hope for progress to millions.