Research to improve the lives of people with diabetes

For more than 50 years, our diabetes researchers have studied ways to reduce the impact of diabetes on individuals, their families and communities.

Our International Diabetes Center and Center for Chronic Care Innovation researchers have been part of ground-breaking studies throughout the decades. And they continue to study new and innovative ways to discover and translate findings into care.

We study diabetes management, complications and interventions as well as innovative technologies. We also study complications and conditions related to diabetes such as high blood pressure, heart disease, neuropathy and obesity.

International Diabetes Center has conducted hundreds of diabetes-related studies. This includes participation in landmark studies such as Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial and the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE). The Center was one of 10 sites worldwide to study the Medtronic 670G hybrid closed-loop system. Study results led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the first-ever hybrid closed-loop system, often called the first-generation artificial pancreas.

Investigators

Key projects

Comparing fingerstick blood glucose monitoring vs. continuous glucose monitoring in primary care (GluCoCare Study)

We are studying whether continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are more effective than the conventional fingerstick method at managing blood sugars in patients with type 2 diabetes who are using insulin. Among patients with type 1 diabetes, these devices have been shown to improve blood sugar management and are becoming the standard of care. But more data is needed among patients with type 2 diabetes. While clinical trials have shown promise for CGM to also improve type 2 diabetes management, no data exists to compare CGM and fingerstick glucose meter technologies in a real-world primary care setting.

Can continuous glucose monitors ease financial stress for people with type 2 diabetes?

People with diabetes spend more than double the amount on medical expenses than those without diabetes. But continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology could help ease the economic burden that comes with the disease.

Through a supplement to the GluCoCare study we will analyze financial toxicity measures recently validated for patients with diabetes. This includes out-of-pocket costs incurred by patients with type 2 diabetes using CGM versus those using the fingerstick method of measuring blood sugar. Using ZIP code and socioeconomic data, we will explore how the financial distress of diabetes management varies by community. This work will help guide strategies for reducing the financial distress experienced by patients with diabetes, particularly those at greater risk and lower socioeconomic status.

Can clinical decision support impact management of obesity?

For the more than 12 million people in the United States who are clinically obese and living with diabetes, there are many effective weight-loss treatments. Data show, however, that clinicians and patients alike don’t fully understand the treatment options and their benefits. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, we’ll use our clinical decision support platform to help primary care physicians personalize treatment recommendations for severe obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes. And we’ll analyze data from 40 primary care clinics to assess whether this platform impacts active management of obesity, weight trajectories, and patient and clinician satisfaction with the decision support intervention.

Demonstrating how technology can improve diabetes management

We developed and gathered consensus for the ambulatory glucose profile (AGP), the first continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) software to analyze and display glucose patterns. The American Diabetes Association, along with seven other diabetes organizations around the world, endorsed the value of the AGP. Learn more at the AGP website.

Key publications

Learn more about our Diabetes investigators and their publications by visiting Knowledge Exchange.

Diabetes