Congratulations to DRC Director Steven Kahn on receiving the Gerold Grodsky award at the 2021 Western Region Islet Study Group, the first in-person meeting for many since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A research letter published in JAMA Network Open found the estimated annual progression rate from A1C-confirmed prediabetes to type 2 diabetes was 5.3% among older adults. “Our findings may provide important information to evaluate the cost effectiveness of lifestyle interventions in older adults with prediabetes identified by HbA1c testing in clinical settings,” researchers wrote.

 Full Story: HCPLive Network (4/20),  MedPage Today (free registration) (4/20)  

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of NIDDK, Diabetes Care and Diabetes have published a compendium of ten articles that highlight just a few of the major contributions NIIDK has fostered through its support of research. These articles provide a broad, but clearly not complete, view of the results that have been achieved through their fostering of science across the country. Included amongst these is a paper by members of NIDDK about the research centers including the Diabetes Research Centers Program. There is also an editorial that celebrates NIDDK and at the same times raises concerns about the future of research and public health related to diabetes given the current discussion about the funding and restructuring of NIDDK and CDC.

DRC affiliate, Edward Boyko, professor (General Internal Medicine) is co-chair of the new edition of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Diabetes Atlas. As the number of people living with diabetes continues to rise, the latest IDF Diabetes Atlas emphasizes the urgent need for improved prevention, early detection and intervention to tackle the burden diabetes places on individuals, communities, health systems and economies. 

Learn more on our news site.

The Sharona Gordon Award was established by the Society of General Physiologists to recognize the important contributions that Sharona Gordon, PhD, has made in changing the scienti!c environment, including establishing standards of equity in the peer review process during her time as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of General Physiology, developing mentoring networks for early-career scientists, disseminating information about harassment in academia, and standing up for inequalities in the greater scienti!c community. Dr. Gordon, an affiliate of the Diabetes Research Center, studies how signal transduction cascades provide the energy that controls ion channels.

The first recipient of the 2020 Sharona Gordon Award is Karen Fleming, PhD, an eminent scientist in the study of membrane protein biophysics from Johns Hopkins University.

Diabetes Research Center affiliate Jenny Kanter, Research Assistant Professor (Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition), has received an R01 award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for her project “APOC3 mediated dyslipidemia in diabetic kidney disease and atherosclerosis.” Another  Center affiliate Charles Alpers, Professor (Department of Pathology) is a Co-Investigator. Their proposed studies will address the overall hypothesis that diabetes and kidney disease raise APOC3 levels and that increased levels of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and their remnants, driven by APOC3, accelerate diabetic kidney disease as well as atherosclerosis.

Edward J. Boyko, MD, MPH, a DRC affiliate, is the recipient of the 2021 Roger Pecoraro Award from the American Diabetes Association. This award recognizes a researcher who has made significant scientific contributions and demonstrates an untiring commitment to improving the understanding of the detection, treatment, and prevention of diabetic foot complications.

Dr. Boyko focuses his research on the epidemiology of type 2 diabetes and its complications. He led a prospective study of risk factors for foot complications among 1,487 primary care patients with diabetes that examined multiple potential factors including neuropathy, peripheral artery disease, transcutaneous oxygen pressure, foot deformity, plantar pressure, and diabetes characteristics.

In 2013 he received the Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology from the American Diabetes Association.

Link to announcement

Diabetes Research Center affiliate Michael Schwartz has been selected by the Endocrine Society to receive the Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research for his contributions to our understanding of the central actions of peptides on energy balance and glucose metabolism. The award will be presented at the Society’s annual meeting ENDO 2022 when he will also give a lecture on his work and other 2022 Laureate Award Recipients will be recognized.