Projects

The purpose of this project is to:

• To examine the effectiveness of CGM use by comparing CGM users with self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) users in 12-month health care use among OA with insulin-treated diabetes.
• To investigate if CGM use could help relief racial disparities in health care use.

Learn more about investigator Wen Wan, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Aim 1a. Identify heterogeneity in pediatric and young adult metabolic health (obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes [DM]; ages 0-18) and education outcomes (student academic achievement, K-3rd grade) across Chicago neighborhoods. We will perform spatial-temporal analysis at the census tract level with health and education data and overlay data on ECE access and neighborhood services/conditions to create geospatial Chicago Diabetes and Childhood heatmaps to address needs and strengths

• Aim 1b. Examine the correlation between academic performance (K-3rd grade; i.e., ages 6-9) and pediatric and young adult metabolic health (ages 6-18) and whether the strength of this relation varies based on neighborhood context.

• Aim 2: Explore the effect of neighborhood ECE expansion on metabolic health (e.g. obesity). We will take advantage of 2015 changes in ECE policy in Chicago and employ a difference-in-differences approach that utilizes variation in the timing to examine effects on metabolic health from age 6 (kindergarten) through 14.
• Aim 3: Develop the Child-DM-HERE Chicago Community Council to evaluate barriers and ideate potential equitable solutions, utilizing novel user-centered design methods, to address needs across sectors.

Learn more about investigator Terri Sabol, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Assess the acceptability of enrolling in an online food delivery service among ICC patients with diabetes. We will solicit barriers to discussing food insecurity during healthcare visits, utilizing an online food delivery system, and receiving, storing, and preparing food items via listening sessions with ICC patients.
• Assess the feasibility of incorporating enrollment in an online food request and delivery service, provision of tailored nutritional counseling during healthcare visits, and tracking and linking uptake to healthcare outcomes among ICC staff and Adelante Center. We will conduct key informant interviews with ICC and Adelante Center staff to identify challenges with integrating enrollment in the food delivery system and provision of tailored nutritional and meal preparation counseling into healthcare visits, and capacity to track uptake and link to diabetes-related health outcomes over time.

Learn more about investigator Yvette Casteneda, PhD, MPH, MBA.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Study the comparative effectiveness among patients with uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes on insulin in an intervention group using remote patient monitoring and automated patient engagement system with BGM to a usual care group using a self-monitoring program with CGM. Hypothesis: Implementing remote patient monitoring with automated engagement and BGM will be more effective on patient outcomes.
• Conduct a feasibility analysis and financial impact of these programs among an underinsured and underserved population of Black/African Americans or Hispanic/Latinos with Type 2 diabetes. Hypothesis: Remote patient monitoring and automated patient engagement will be feasible with lower costs for the intervention group compared to usual care group in a community health center among these populations.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Develop client feedback survey questions informed by client interviews and existing tools.
• Iteratively improve the brief survey tool using cognitive refinement with 10 food pantry clients.

Learn more about investigator Jenny Jia, MD, MS.

The Sharing TELE-CARE Learnings project (TELE-SHARE) aims to disseminate the results of our prior study to FQHCs in Chicago and beyond with a focus on those organizations that contributed data to our analysis. In addition, we aim to facilitate discussions about how to translate the findings into meaningful change, as FQHC clinicians and staff are instrumental in sharing preferred practices among peers and in integrating evidence in clinical practice.

Learn more about investigator Jodi Simon, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Determine the rate of GLP-1 RA prescription for youth with T2DM from August 1st, 2019, to March 31st 2023 by pediatric endocrinologists at the University of Chicago.
• Assess medication adherence and estimated duration of use of GLP-1 RA in youth with T2DM who were prescribed GLP-1 RA from August 1st, 2019, to March 31st 2023.
• Determine changes in BMI, HbA1C and blood pressure over the initial 6-month period in youth with T2DM who were prescribed GLP-1 RA from August 1st, 2019, to March 31st 2023.

Learn more about investigator Katie O'Sullivan, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Utilize the Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research (CCDTR) AHEAD-CHC core to compare rates of acute DM outpatient complications during the COVID-19 era (March 2020-22) in patients with DM who did/did not engage with DM technology (telemedicine, continuous glucose monitoring).
• Conduct focus groups (patients, clinicians, healthcare team members) to identify facilitators and barriers of technology use (telemedicine, HER portal, CGM) in the primary care setting, and then ideate and adapt potential solutions, utilizing novel user-centered design methods.
• Develop a DM Technology FQHC partnership board that can evaluate the implementation potential of these DM technology solutions/interventions, while promoting equity.

Learn more about investigator Amisha Wallia, MD, MS.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Examine adherence to the at-home sleep interventions of sleep extension and bedtime regularity for two weeks in short sleeping overweight African American adults.
• Test the hypothesis that sleep extension or bedtime regularity in overweight African American short sleepers will improve glucose homeostasis. We hypothesize that insulin sensitivity from OGTT, and other measures of glucose tolerance from OGTT and CGM will improve following both sleep interventions. We will examine effect size on metabolic outcomes of the two interventions.
• Test the hypothesis that sleep extension or bedtime regularity will mitigate obesity risk in short sleeping overweight African American adults via alterations in both homeostatic and hedonic feeding pathways. We hypothesize that total caloric and macronutrient intake, along with ratings of hunger and appetite, as well as scores on the reward-based eating drive scale and the power of food scale will improve following the sleep interventions.

Learn more about investigator Erin Hanlon, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Describe the presence of uncontrolled DM, comorbidities (hypertension, hyperlipidemia), acute preventable outpatient complications (i.e. infections) and chronic (microvascular and macrovascular) complications, in YAs (18 to 39 years old) with T2DM. We will further describe technology use (TM, EHR portal, CGM) and novel CRM DM medication (SGLT2, GLP1) use. Additionally, we will exam comorbidities in adolescents (10-17 years old) to better understand disease trajectories for YA patients. H1a: Young adults will have high rates of poor disease control, comorbidities, and complications with low rates.
• Examine factors associated with the presence of chronic microvascular complications (primary analysis) as well as chronic macrovascular and acute preventable outpatient (ie infectious) complications (secondary analysis) in YAs. H1b: Technology and use of novel CRM DM medication use will be associated with better glycemic control and lower prevalence of microvascular, macrovascular, and preventable outpatient complications.
• To understand and explore, through focus groups, YAs’ current understanding of the risks and consequences of diabetes complications, as well as their perceptions of technology and novel DM medication use. Additionally, we aim to understand, from a group of CHC clinicians, their perspectives on DM complication prevention, and the feasibility of technology and novel CRM DM medication use. H2: Data generated from interviews of young adult patients and clinicians will inform understanding of DM complications and use of DM care technologies and novel medications for DM treatment in YAs.

Learn more about investigator Sean DeLacey, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Determine the feasibility of delivering the FoodSteps intervention among adults with binge eating, obesity, and food insecurity. Feasibility will be based on study recruitment and study retention rates, retention to treatment, and compliance documenting prescribed intervention strategies.
• Assess the acceptability of FoodSteps among adults with binge eating, obesity, and food insecurity based on user-centered design methodology via qualitative interviews and self-report surveys.
• Derive estimates of the preliminary efficacy of FoodSteps on changes in weight and binge eating from baseline to post-intervention. Efficacy estimates will be used to power a future R01 trial.

Learn more about investigator Andrea Graham Kass, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Describe how telehealth utilization is related to HbA1c levels and active engagement of adult diabetic patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Use mixed methods to explore the impact of social determinants of health on telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Develop a set of community health center-specific telehealth recommendations to better serve diabetic patients’ complex needs.

Learn more about investigator Jodi Simon, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Explore patients’ knowledge and information sources for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), their perceived risks and any actions taken to prevent T2DM.
• Identify patient perspectives on disease self-management and potential intervention strategies for enhanced management of HIV+T2DM.
• Determine clinician perspectives on T2DM prevention and strategies for enhancing coordinated care of patients with HIV+T2DM.

Learn more about investigator Allison Pack, PhD, MPH.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Identify critical barriers and facilitators to care linkage from the perspective of patients and healthcare staff implementing Project IDEAL to inform the development of implementation strategies supporting these processes.
• Pilot test strategies supporting linkage to care and assess the implementation of these strategies and their preliminary impact on care initiation.

Learn more about investigator Angela Kong, PhD, MPH, RD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Assess the unique messaging needs and responses of Hispanic/Latinx individuals to diabetes risk communication.
• Experimentally test (using a randomized controlled trial) the efficacy of vicarious affirmation, embedded within three national prediabetes awareness campaigns, to foster receptivity to risk and prevention information among Latinx Americans.

Learn more about investigator Nathan Walter, PhD, MA.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Convene meetings with community charitable food stakeholders to help refine and finalize interview questions for pantry clients on stigma and cultural relevance in food pantries.
• Examine client experience using semi-structured interviews with pantry clients that explore stigma, cultural relevance and clients' influence on healthy food selection at food pantries.
• Explore staff members’ perspectives on how to address stigma and cultural relevance experienced by pantry clients in the design of nutrition behavioral interventions in food pantries.

Learn more about investigator Jenny Jia, MD, MS.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Describe rates of gestational diabetes (GDM) and identify longitudinal patterns of cardiometabolic risk factors in early-adult life that are related to or provide protection from development of GDM and future incident GDM.
• In a subset of the Alliance cohort, link maternal and child health records between Alliance and the Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN) to examine associations with newborn and childhood cardiometabolic health.

Learn more about investigator Sadiya Khan, MD, MS.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Adapt the Diabetes (DM) Discharge Toolkit, using novel learning design methods, to create the Telehealth DM Discharge Toolkit for DM patients (COVID-19 +/-) requiring new and/or additional DM medication(s) who are being discharged from hospital to home.
• Conduct a feasibility pilot study of integration of the Telehealth DM Discharge Toolkit into the new hospital discharge processes of DM patients (COVID-19 +/-) requiring new and/or additional DM medication(s) in transition from hospital to home.

Learn more about investigator Amisha Wallia, MD, MS.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Test the hypothesis that there is an increased cost-related medication non-adherence (CRN) rate among Medicare diabetes patients at high risk of hospitalization during coronavirus pandemic, using a sample of 427 subjects enrolled in the Comprehensive Care Physician study with predominantly African American enrollees residing in the South Side of urban Chicago. We propose to use interrupted time series analysis to detect the difference in the CRN rates before and during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Develop a machine-learning predictive model to identify the factors that have a more significant role in predicting the increased CRN rates during the coronavirus pandemic, including disability status, gender, comorbidity conditions, functional status, family size, marital status, Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility and mental health scores.
• Improve the Andersen healthcare utilization model by weighing the impact of predictors for CRN among diabetes patients during the pandemic based on the relative importance metric obtained from the machine-learning predictive modeling.

Learn more about investigator David Meltzer, MD, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Compare the feasibility of and subject preference for three candidate devices for remote self-collection of microsamples of capillary blood (TAP, PanoHealth and HemaSpot).
• Compare assay results from laboratories associated with each device (HbA1C, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, CRP, HDL, Total Cholesterol, Hemoglobin and EBV).

Long-Term Aims for NSHAP 2021 Field Season:

• Collect the critical 3rd (or 4th) A1C measure to characterize diabetic trajectories over 10 to 15 years. With NSHAP A1C, survey and medication data we can estimate the age-specific transition rates among nondiabetic, pre-diabetic, and diabetic states in the U.S. population of older adults.
• Establish the population-level prevalence of COVID-19 infection based on antibody tests and survey.
• Evaluate the associations between COVID-19 infection and transitions across diabetic states, including health disparities in diabetes transition rates and COVID-19 prevalence among demographic subgroups (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, SES and education).
• Test the hypothesis that social factors such as large social networks, positive social and intimate relationships, social support, participation, social stress-buffering and low levels of isolation and loneliness are associated with a lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection and diabetes progression.

Learn more about investigator Martha McClintock, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• A CBPR team of 10 will be charged to conduct the project and include Korean patients with T2DM, family members, and service providers from this community. They will partner with the science team who bring research expertise to the project. The CBPR team will review and adapt all vignette and survey materials to reflect Korean perspectives related to T2DM and its treatment.

• Seven hundred twenty research participants will be recruited for a 3X3 (ethnic group by decision-making vignette) factorial design. Ethnic groups will be Koreans living in Korea, Koreans living in the US (a proxy of acculturation), and European Americans. Decision making vignette will be SDM, FCDM, or Doctor-based decision making (DrDM: where the physician makes treatment plans). Outcome measures will reflect satisfaction with decision making approach and belief of its efficacy. A measure of acculturation will also be administered to test for mediation effects.

Learn more about investigator Patrick Corrigan, PhD.

Learn more about investigator Eun-Jeong Lee, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To adapt our current diabetes GV staff training by incorporating content on virtual GV facilitation and patient educational content on addressing loneliness and emotional health due to social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To test the impact of virtual GVs among adults with T2DM. Primary outcome will be glycosylated hemoglobin and perceived social support due to the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemicglycosylated hemoglobin and perceived social support due to the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to implementation and sustainability of virtual GVs during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic through interviews with HC staff using the CFIR.

Learn more about investigator Arshiya Baig, MD, MPH.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Describe WMHS’s strategies integrating medical and social care and what facilitated their development and implementation.
• Identify what health care teams and patients perceive is and is not working in WMHS’s approaches to integrate medical and social care.
• Elucidate what health care administrators and leaders of partnering community-based organizations (CBO’s) perceive would make WMHS’s strategies addressing medical and social needs sustainable financially and organizationally.

Learn more about investigator Loren Saulsberry, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Preliminary efficacy of Sleep-Extend on sleep duration in women with prior GDM and short sleep.
• Preliminary efficacy of Sleep-Extend on primary outcome of fasting glucose levels (FBG), and secondary outcomes of A1C and related parameters from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Learn more about investigator Sirimon Reutrakul, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Determine the feasibility of using the ECHO model to improve knowledge and self-efficacy around evidence-based diabetes management practices among PCPs in urban, under-resourced communities.

• Describe changes that PCPs in urban, under-resourced communities have implemented to improve diabetes management as a result of participating in ECHO training.

Learn more about investigator Daniel Johnson, MD.

Learn more about investigator Celeste Thomas, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Construct RNNs based on the EHR data of CKD patients for predicting whether an early-stage CKD patient will progress to the late or end stage.
• Evaluate and validate the prediction model based on existing EHRs and future patient data. Investigate the potential of applying the prediction model in clinical practice.

Learn more about investigator Yuan Ji, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Determine the feasibility and acceptability of an EMI, consisting of CGM, activity tracking, and real-time feedback and behavior choices (eating/activity) driven by the results of glucose levels.
• Determine estimates of efficacy for determination of preliminary efficacy for determination of preliminary effect size for change in A1C and autonomous motivation.

Learn more about investigator Cynthia Fritschi, PhD, RN, APRN, CDE.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Adapt, augment, extend and test an existing electronic decision support tool for medication choice for primary care physicians to incorporate patient engagement and shared-decision making for patients with poor diabetes control
• Evaluate the feasibility of wide-spread implementation of the tool using patient and physician feedback measures.

Learn more about investigator Lauren Oshman, MD, MPH, FAAFP.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Feasibility and acceptability of T1D-Sleep-Opt-In.

• Preliminary efficacy of T1D-Sleep-Opt-In on sleep duration and regularity.

• Preliminary efficacy of T1D-Sleep-Opt-In on glycemic control.

• Preliminary efficacy of T1D-Sleep-Opt-In on diabetes distress.

Learn more about investigator Pamela Martyn-Nemeth, PhD, RN, FAHA.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To examine effect of breast cancer medical treatments on the induction of diabetes or hyperglycemia in patients without diabetes at baseline.
• To examine effect of breast cancer medical treatments in worsening glucose control in patients with baseline diagnosis of diabetes.

Learn more about investigator Dezheng Huo, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To examine the distribution of social determinants of health (SDH) factors for controlled vs uncontrolled diabetic and hypertensive patients in comparison with the general patient population at one health center.
• To explore effective methods for scoring the PRAPARE SDH factors for use in correlational analyses, including risk stratification.

Learn more about investigator Rosy Chang Weir, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To determine participants’ interest in and need for V-TTG based insulin training for use at home after hospital discharge among African American inpatients with uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c>9).

Learn more about investigator Valerie Press, MD, MPH.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Ascertain common situational and perceived exercise and social support needs among frail older adults with diabetes and their caregivers and identify potential technology-based solutions to their needs with them.
• Obtain and incorporate feedback from patients and their caregivers regarding an EngAGE prototype to select minimal viable product subject matter (exercise pictures, instructions, videos, education), functionality (reminders, progress tracking, two-way communication, encouragement, social engagement), and mechanism of delivery (email, text messaging, smart voice technology, website) refining the tool’s user interface and functions.

Learn more about investigator Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Examine the relationship between community violence and patient access to material and social resources needed for self-management of obesity and diabetes.
• Determine and quantify the most important material and social resources needed to address violence-related barriers to self-management of obesity and diabetes.

Learn more about investigator Elizabeth Tung, MD, MS.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Develop, test, and refine the video-taped examples of family communication and problem solving, and of families discussing their experiences during their own transition process. We will assess the feasibility, relevance, and acceptability of these videos using an iterative, multi-method approach with the support of three key stakeholder groups: Adolescents and their parents; pediatric and adult diabetes clinicians; and emerging adults with T1D and their parents.

Learn more about investigator Jill Weissberg-Benchell, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To assess factors associated with successfully implementing diabetes group visits from the perspective of health center leadership, staff, providers, and patients.
• Assess cost of implementation of the group visits at community health centers by
  • Assessing the financial return on investments (ROI) of the intervention from the perspective of the health center.
  • Assessing cost utility by modeling the lifetime cost and utility benefits of the reduction in glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) from the societal perspective.

Learn more about investigator Arshiya Baig, MD, MPH.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Develop an integrated ER/EI-Focused Psychosocial Intervention from three (3) existing sources that contain ER/EI Psychosocial Intervention elements for the treatment of behavioral conditions.
• Conduct a pilot study in 10 T2D patients with aberrant ER/EI and compare treatment outcomes in ER, EI, and in HbA1c with 10 T2D patients undergoing treatment as usual.

Learn more about investigator Emil Coccaro, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To perform a literature review on diabetes practice patterns and leverage results from local and national surveys of physicians on glycemic control practices in order to describe agents and their
  interactions.
• To design, implement, and validate an initial Agent Based Model that includes relevant historical data
  on the physician workforce, physician practices, and trends in glycemic control.

The overarching goal of this project is to research and develop an Agent Based Model that can represent, analyze and/or predict the long-term adoption of guidelines for glycemic control for patients with T2D across the medical community and sub-communities.

Learn more about investigator Eunice Santos, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To assess trends in maternal diabetes prevalence and associated perinatal outcomes by race/ethnicity and mothers’ age from 2010 to 2014.
  • The prevalence of chronic maternal diabetes and gestational diabetes has increased over time.
  • Hispanics and African-Americans prevalence of maternal diabetes has increased disproportionate to non-Hispanics Whites.
  • African-Americans will have the highest prevalence of perinatal complications, Hispanics will have the second highest.

• To examine the association between race/ethnicity and diabetes and its associated adverse birth outcomes and whether neighborhood socio-economic status SES, maternal SES, or prenatal care mitigate these associations.

  • Higher neighborhood SES is associated with lower rates of adverse birth outcomes.
  • Higher maternal SES is associated with lower rates of adverse birth outcomes.
  • Prenatal care is associated with lower rates of adverse birth outcomes.
  • Differences in neighborhood SES, maternal SES, and prenatal care account for a large portion of racial/ethnic disparities in adverse birth outcomes.

Learn more about investigator Milda Saunders, MD, MPH.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To link patient-level data to survey responses from UC and NSUHS PCPs and endocrinologists about their awareness, knowledge, and practice of individualizing glycemic, blood pressure, and cholesterol targets in their patients with Type 2 diabetes.
• To conduct a national survey of physicians to (A) determine their awareness and knowledge of recommendations to individualize glycemic targets, (B) experimentally assess the variables they use to set glycemic targets using clinical vignettes, and (C) characterize systemic barriers to adoption of individualization, including quality measurement and pay for performance.

Learn more about investigator Neda Laiteerapong, MD, MS.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To analyze the lifetime cost-effectiveness of genetic testing for GCK-, HNF1A- and HNF4A-MODY in a hypothetical cohort of presumed type 1 diabetes patients.
• To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of cascade screening for relatives of patients with MODY due to mutations in GCK, HNF1A and HNF4A.

Learn more about investigator Rochelle Naylor, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• Examine county-level incidence of diabetes in association with cumulative environmental exposures and consider disparities by rural-urban status.
• Examine environmental domain-specific drivers of diabetes incidence rates at the county-level and assess disparities by rural-urban status.

The findings will be used to develop hypotheses and inform future studies on the burden of cumulative environmental exposure and of gene-environment interactions in the development of diabetes.

Learn more about investigator Jyotsna Jagai, MS, MPH, PhD.

Learn more about investigator Robert Sargis MD, PhD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To assess the prevalence of CRN in older dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes.
• To assess pattern of CRN behaviors in older dual-eligible Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes.
• To assess if the CRN behaviors are associated with the burden of treatment, such as disease or medication use, in the older dual eligible patients with diabetes.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To analyze interview data of pilot patients from the church-based, DSME intervention and assess patient recommendations for further enhancements and access to services.
• To analyze interview data of providers from the Local Stories, Local Patients training and assess their satisfaction with the training and impact on their patient communication and clinical practice.

Learn more about investigator Arshiya Baig, MD, MPH.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To re-design and develop an intervention to address three high criticality failures in the systems and processes of DM transitions of care for solid organ transplant patients, employing an interdisciplinary user-centered design model.
• To implement, evaluate, and pilot test the effectiveness of the intervention to improve DM transitions of care and to reduce hypo- and hyperglycemia in this population.

Learn more about investigator Amisha Wallia, MD.

The purpose of this project is to:

• To develop a pragmatic T2DM risk prediction model using longitudinal EHR data from adult patients with prediabetes receiving primary care in a large FQHC network.
• To develop and evaluate an EHR decision support tool based on the proposed risk model that alerts primary care providers about patients’ T2DM risk and prompts them to offer benefit-based prediabetes treatments.

Learn more about investigator Matthew O'Brien, MD.