Heather Trickett, left, and Jill Soucy of the MIT Public Service Center take a break while sorting through 850 gifts collected for the MIT Giving Tree. Over 550 MIT community members participated in this year's program, which provides gifts to needy children in the Cambridge and Boston area each holiday season. Photo / Joshua Velasquez
Chronic diseases like diabetes are prevalent, costly, and challenging to treat. A common denominator driving them may be a promising new therapeutic target.