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NIDDK progress, goals outlined
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WASHINGTON — Two tenets of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases are to support pivotal clinical studies and trials and ensure knowledge dissemination through outreach and communications, according to Judith Fradkin, MD, director of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the NIDDK at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md.
Additional core principles of the NIDDK are to maintain a vigorous investor-initiated research portfolio, preserve a stable pool of new investigators and foster research training and mentoring opportunities, Fradkin said at the Forum on Diabetes/Broaden Your View Meeting. Future opportunities for diabetes clinical research include optimal drug treatment for newly-diagnosed patients, optimal glycemic control in specific populations and settings, comprehensive care and obesity treatment and diabetes prevention.
The NIDDK ensures knowledge through dissemination, outreach and communications, organizations such as the National Diabetes Education Program and studies such as The Diabetes Prevention Program Study.
“One of the primary venues [for knowledge dissemination] is the National Diabetes Education Program, which is a partnership of more than 200 organizations and is jointly led by the NIH and the CDC,” she said during a presentation. “We have translated materials into 16 different languages, and we have partner groups that are tailoring it to make it specific for certain high risk populations.”
Translating research involves putting the findings into practice in community settings, such as at YMCAs, physician offices and internet-assisted and other telehealth interventions.
Coordination of diabetes activities across the government is overseen by the Diabetes Mellitus interagency Coordinating Committee, according to Fradkin. The NIDDK coordinates with government agencies, including the FDA, the CDC and the Indian Health Services. – by Christen Haigh
For more information:
- Fradkin J. Session I: Follow the diabetes dollar — Federal priorities in preventing and treating diabetes. Presented at: Forum on Diabetes/Broaden Your View Meeting; March 12-13, 2008; Washington, D.C.