Diabetes Center Research

To help your child continue to receive advanced diabetes care and provide you with hope for your child’s future, the Diabetes Center for Children conducts and takes part in research programs focusing on all aspects of the disease.

Prediction and prevention

The goals of our prediction and prevention studies are to discover and understand the causes of diabetes. We hope to:

• Discover factors (genes, environment) that may play a role in the development of diabetes
• Understand how to recognize the early signs and symptoms of diabetes
• One day, learn to prevent diabetes before it starts

Early intervention

The pancreas continues to make insulin in children newly diagnosed with diabetes. Starting certain medications soon after diagnosis and living a healthy lifestyle has been shown to keep the pancreas working even longer. Previous research has shown that patients who maintain some pancreas function have good blood glucose control and prevent long-term complications.

New technology and treatments

Clinicians continue to look for new and more efficient methods to deliver insulin and manage diabetes. These studies are testing the latest-and-greatest for diabetes care.

Diabetes-related complications

Children with diabetes can be at a higher risk for developing other conditions, including cardiovascular complications. Our clinicians are dedicated to researching diabetes-related complications in hopes of developing improved screening, prevention and treatment options. Some of the diabetes-related complications currently under investigation include: thyroid disease, celiac disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and nerve problems.