IU Childhood Diabetes Researchers Secure $5M

Indiana University School of Medicine Pediatrics Professor Linda DiMeglio will lead the IU team.

An Indiana University-led team will use a $5 million grant to help improve diabetes management techniques in patients under the age of eight. The school says the funding from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust will focus on barriers for children using new technologies to keep the disease in check.

Indiana University School of Medicine Pediatrics Professor Linda DiMeglio is IU’s lead researcher on the effort. She says "we have known for a long time that low blood sugar levels are bad for the developing brain, but there’s evidence from recent studies that high blood sugar levels also affect brain development. So there’s a great need to work with families and caregivers of young children to get more of their blood sugars in range."

She says the objective is to make it easier for parents to help their children maintain proper levels, which improves quality-of-life for all.

IU says statistics show about 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes. The first phase of the study is already underway and a second phase, which will involve 17 other centers throughout the U.S. will build upon the data from phase one.