Illinois Institute of Technology has established a unique diabetes research and education center. The Engineering Center For Diabetes Research and Education's (ECDRE) objective is to use engineering techniques to develop treatment modalities for diabetes and its many complications.

ECDRE is the first engineering center in the U.S. to focus on treatment and cure of diabetes. IIT faculty members, in collaboration with faculty, medical investigators and clinicians at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, are working on a variety of diabetes-related research projects. ECDRE is a component of the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering, which is developing a biomedical research thrust on the campus.