Improving quality of life for patients with diabetes

We conduct diabetes research through two well-established programs: International Diabetes Center (IDC) and the Center for Chronic Care Innovation. These teams work together to strengthen research and improve care for people with diabetes at HealthPartners and beyond.

Our research is focused on translating new findings into patient care. We study topics such as diabetes management and intervention, nutrition, new diabetes technologies and how to improve health care for both adults and children. We also study complications and conditions related to diabetes such as high blood pressure, heart disease, neuropathy and obesity. We have participated in landmark studies including Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial and the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE).

Investigators

Key Projects

Ambulatory glucose profile (AGP™)

While continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has the potential to transform diabetes care, it can only happen if the data is organized and standardized in a way that allows patients and clinicians to make improvements in glucose management. To advance CMG, we developed and then gathered consensus for the AGP, the first CGM software to analyze and display glucose patterns. The American Diabetes Association, along with seven other diabetes organizations around the world, endorsed the value of the AGP. Learn more at the AGP website.

New technologies improve diabetes management

Nearly 9 million people use insulin to help manage type 2 diabetes. And while it provides some benefit, only a small percentage can control their disease with this therapy. We led a study to see if an automated insulin dose guidance system can offer more effective ways to tailor doses of insulin and improve diabetes management. Study results were published in The Lancet.

Study links weight-loss surgery to fewer diabetes complications

Millions of people who are obese and living with type 2 diabetes are at risk of blindness, kidney and nerve disease. Weight-loss surgery appears to significantly reduce risk of these potential complications. Through our research, we learned that weight loss surgery may have strong benefit for some people living with type 2 diabetes, especially younger people.

Expanding the benefit of real-time continuous glucose monitoring

We led a randomized clinical trial that showed use of real-time CGM improves the way people with type 2 diabetes use basal insulin to manage their condition. This data expands the number of people who could benefit from these devices, and points to a possible future in which CGMs are common in primary care clinics across the U.S. The study was published in JAMA.

Can clinical decision support impact management of obesity?

For the more than 12 million people in the United States who are clinically obese and living with diabetes, there are many effective weight-loss treatments. Data show, however, that clinicians and patients alike don’t fully understand the treatment options and their benefits. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, we’ll use our clinical decision support platform to help primary care physicians personalize treatment recommendations for severe obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes. And we’ll analyze data from 40 primary care clinics to assess whether this platform impacts active management of obesity, weight trajectories, and patient and clinician satisfaction with the decision support intervention.

Artificial pancreas

IDC was chosen as one of 10 sites in the world to study the Medtronic 670G hybrid closed-loop system. The system uses a continuous glucose sensor that communicates wirelessly with an insulin pump. The pump has a built-in formula that determines the amount of insulin needed to keep glucose as normal as possible. We published study results in JAMA in 2016 showing that the system was safe and effective. A few weeks later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever hybrid closed-loop system, often called the first-generation artificial pancreas. We continue to study advancements in this technology and the impact on patients and their families.

Key publications

Learn more about our diabetes investigators and their publications by visiting Knowledge Exchange.

Diabetes