Clinical trials have established that glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factor modification can reduce the risk of complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In addition, behavioral strategies have been shown to delay or prevent the development of type 2 diabetes in individuals at high risk for diabetes. Despite the clarity of evidence, many individuals with diabetes do not meet the recommended goals of diabetes care. There is an unequivocal gap between evidence and real-world diabetes prevention and treatment, and this gap is particular evident in many racial and ethnic minorities. Investigators at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Meharry Medical College propose a renewal to our Center for Diabetes Translation Research ( https://labnodes.vanderbilt.edu/cdtr ) to bridge this gap by building on our success in type II translation research. This renewal proposal is based on a highly productive initial five years and a plan for the next cycle that maintains continuity with our excellent leadership while introducing change to reflect the changing needs of our research base. During the past five years our research base has significantly enlarged (from 23 to 38), been well funded (annual direct costs from NIDDK alone of nearly five million), and published important manuscripts (136 cited). Our P&F program has been extremely successful (8 investigators funded for 30K/year for two years) in that four investigators have already received either a K award or a DP3 award and a fifth awardee has secured a RO1. We believe our P&F program, owing to the ability to leverage institutional matching funds and the ability to extend over two years, has been one of the most successful aspects of the Center. Our enrichment program is extensive and includes collaborations with multiple entities across campus. We propose to build on the excellence of the past five years by maintaining continuity in our core structure and leadership while introducing a new core (Behavioral Intervention Technologies and Services Core) and leader (Chandra Osborn, Ph.D.) to reflect the expanding research base that utilizes technology for behavioral interventions. We maintain a focus on health disparities through our long standing relationship with Meharry Medical College and build on that foundation by introducing a new leader (Consuelo Wilkins, M.D.) to lead our enrichment core. Dr. Wilkins leads the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance (https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/meharry- vanderbilt/) which explicity promotes collaboration between our two institutions to promote clinical and community-engaged collaboration, education and research. These additions build on our theme of reducing health disparities while expanding on our efforts to advance knowledge in behavioral intervention technologies.
Center Overview Project Narrative Translation research (type II) in diabetes is essential to bridge the gap between evidence and real-world practice. The Vanderbilt CDTR is highly relevant in that it advances knowledge on the design, implementation, dissemination, and sustained use of effective interventions in high risk populations.
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