Richmond Times-Dispatch

By Katherine Calos
Published: November 15, 2009

Paul and Diane Manning had no family history of Type 1 diabetes until both of their children developed the disease, but they're making a historic family contribution to fighting it.

The Gordonsville couple donated $5 million to diabetes research at the University of Virginia Health System.

"My wife and I have been very fortunate in business. We like giving back," Paul Manning said. Their company, PBM Products, produces infant formula. A new venture, Beta-Pro LLC, is a biotechnology firm that provides diabetes researchers with custom cellular and consulting services.

"Our philanthropic quest is to help in the medical field, especially with children and especially with diabetes," he said. "We are very close to therapies that will help. We feel comfortable with investing in that research and donating our money."

Manning's children, now in their 20s, developed Type 1 diabetes about a decade ago.

"It came out of the blue," he said. "The kids are doing well. They've managed very well."

He said it wasn't hard to decide to donate to diabetes research at U.Va.

"Of all the research facilities in the world, we found that right here in Virginia we have one of the top research groups in the world.

"We are very fortunate that they are on the cutting edge of cellular therapy. Also they're strong on [developing] the artificial pancreas, which I believe in the near future is going to give big benefits to diabetics by controlling their glucose much better than current insulin delivery systems.

"There's a lot of hope and a lot of progress going on right now. We're really excited about the opportunity."

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