Research
In addition to our commitment to offering the most up-to-date care available for children with diabetes, our providers are also continually conducting research in the field of diabetes. Our faculty study a wide range of topics, including health outcomes and quality of life for children with diabetes, and the link between childhood obesity and its long-term endocrine consequences such as pubertal maturation.
U-M faculty also explore ways to improve the tools available to families to support them in managing their child’s diabetes. We focus on providing patients information about the latest diabetes technology (such as insulin brands, pumps, continuous glucose monitors) to allow them to decide if it right for them. See below for additional information about some of our current studies.
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If you would like to search for eligible research studies not listed below, click here.
Actively Recruiting Studies
Mobile Diary Study of Adolescents and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes
We are seeking participants for a mobile diary study to understand how different diabetes psychological symptoms (distress, anxiety, depression, and social support) relate to health outcomes such as blood sugar levels and diabetes management behaviors.
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Who can participate?
You may be eligible to participate if you meet all of these requirements:
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Age of 13-26 years at the time of enrollment
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Have a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) for at least 6 months
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Fluent in spoken and written English
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Willing to carry around personal mobile phone during home monitoring period with daily access to cellular or WiFi connectivity
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Willing to wear a continuous blood glucose monitor (CGM) device during the home monitoring period
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Exclusion criteria:
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Cannot have any social or medical condition that would prevent complete participation in the study or would pose significant hazard to the subject’s participation
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Cannot have any skin conditions or diseases that would interfere with the CGM sensor placement or accuracy (such as extensive psoriasis, extensive eczema, scarring, etc.)
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Cannot have a scheduled X-ray, MRI, CT scan, or high-frequency electrical heat (diathermy) treatment during the period of CGM wear (or any other activity that would necessitate CGM sensor or insulin pump removal) that cannot be scheduled around or accommodated within the study assessment windows
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Cannot be currently pregnant or plan to become pregnant while participating in the study
What is involved?
Participant involvement requires 3 sessions over about 2 weeks.
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Visit 1 (in-person) will include a fasting blood draw, medical and health history intake, vital signs, surveys and install of the study mobile app. Also, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to measure your blood sugar will be placed if you do not already have one. This visit will take about 1 hour.
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Home monitoring period will include survey questions three times a day from an app on your phone and you will be required to wear the CGM for the 14-day period. The first two alerts from the app will include 6 questions about your feelings at the moment. The third daily alert will also include 18 additional questions asking about your overall daily feelings, diabetes management, and you will be asked to upload a picture of your experience of living with diabetes. It is estimated that it will take about 25 minutes to complete all three surveys per day.
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Visit 2 (remote) will include additional surveys and diabetes device data from your insulin pump and CGM will be collected. This visit will take about 1 hour.
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The study team may access your medical records to verify eligibility and collect diabetes-related health information throughout the duration of the study. There is an optional portion of the study to keep your blood and medical information for future research.
Compensation
A $100 gift card will be provided depending on the participation level: $20 for Visit 1, $56 for the entire home monitoring period ($1 for each EMA session with 3 sessions per day and $1 for each day of CGM wear), and $24 for Visit 2.
For more information, please email Emily Dhadphale, Study Coordinatinator, at ehirschf@med.umich.edu or call (734) 936-6042. We hope to hear from you soon!
Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet Pathway to Prevention Study
Did you know that relatives of people with type 1 diabetes have 15 times greater risk for developing the disease than people with no family history?
We are partnering with the University of Michigan TrialNet team to prevent type 1 diabetes and we encourage you to get involved. TrialNet is an international network of researchers seeking ways to delay or prevent type 1 diabetes. TrialNet offers risk screening to relatives of people with type 1 diabetes to see if they are at risk for developing the disease. The screening is a free blood test that can detect the risk for type 1 diabetes years before symptoms appear. Most of this process can be completed from home!
How can you get involved?
If someone in your family has type 1 diabetes, you can sign up at UMHSTrialNet@med.umich.edu to have a test kit mailed to you, free of charge, to obtain a screening sample. You can order an in-home test kit, or a lab test kit that you take to a lab for the blood draw. Test kits can be mailed to you anywhere in the US and all of the paperwork can be completed electronically. If testing shows that you are at increased risk for type 1 diabetes, you can be monitored by TrialNet and may be eligible to join a research study testing ways to prevent or delay the disease.
Who is eligible to be screened?
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Anyone ages 2.5 through 45 with a sibling, child, or parent with type 1 diabetes.
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Anyone ages of 2.5 through 20 with a sibling, child, parent, cousin, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent or half-sibling with type 1 diabetes.
For more information, please call (734) 615-4079 or email Sheree Nicholson, Study Coordinator, at UMHS-TrialNet@med.umich.edu. We hope to hear from you soon!
Ongoing Research Studies
The Effects of Diet-Induced Obesity on Hematopoiesis
In order to understand the source of inflammation we have focused on understanding changes within the hematopoietic compartment. The prominent white blood cell increased and activated during obesity is the macrophage. We have focused our studies on looking at the generation of myeloid cells (macrophages and neutrophils) and how this is enhanced in the bone marrow of obese mice. These changes are sustained even after bone marrow transplantation and weight loss. By investigating the changes within these progenitors we will gain knowledge and understanding of the long-term persistent impact of diet-induced obesity on the immune system.
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For more information, check the Singer Lab research website.