The Amaranth Diabetes Foundation, Inc. is an integral part of the global effort to stop the spread of diabetes. The Foundation Board selects the American Diabetes Association^®—sponsored research projects conducted by the following scientists:

Judith Agudo, PhD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Harnessing immune privilege mechanisms from stem cells to protect beta-cells from immune attack

The goal of this project is to develop strategies to ensure the survival of transplanted or regenerated beta-cells, by allowing them to effectively and safely cloak from immune cells. (Grant funded through 6/30/2025)

Jun Zou, PhD

Georgia State University Research Foundation

Protection against dysglycemia via fiber-mediated nourishment of gut microbiota

This project aims to investigate the interaction among dietary fiber, gut microbiota, intestinal function, and glycemia control. Knowing detailed mechanisms by which dietary fiber regulate gut microbiota to benefit host to control glucose will bring gut microbiota-targeted therapies to prevent or cure diabetes. (Grant funded through 6/30/2023)

Laura Cristina Alonso, MD

University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts
 

Regenerating Beta Cells to Treat and Prevent Diabetes

This project sets out to study whether the genetic changes that increase diabetes risk alter human beta cells characteristics, like insulin production, insulin secretion, and beta cell regeneration. The long-term goal of this project is to find ways to get beta cells to re-grow, to prevent or treat diabetes. (Grant extension through 12/31/2022)

Anas El Fathi, PhD

The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia 

Facilitating diabetes management with an AI-personalized carbohydrate-free bolus calculator for smart insulin pens

Most patients with type 1 diabetes use multiple daily injections of insulin to treat this disease. They need to self-administer, usually using an insulin pen, an insulin dose before consuming their meals. Patients calculate mealtime insulin dose to cover meal-nutrients, principally, carbohydrates. However, this is a challenging task that requires education in carbohydrate counting and good numeracy skills. This is particularly problematic for patients using insulin pens because of the lack of a built-in bolus calculator. The new generation of insulin pens, called smart insulin pens, can connect with smartphones and use a bolus calculator. Still, the existing bolus calculators are not designed for this population. (Grant funded through 3/31/2024)

Howard William Davidson, PhD

University of Colorado Denver

A high throughput test predicting future beta cell loss in subjects with recent onset T1D

The rate at which insulin producing cells are lost (progression) in someone with type 1 diabetes varies considerably between individuals. This makes it difficult to accurately determine if someone has actually benefitted from treatment with an experimental drug in a clinical trial; naturally slow progressors can be mistaken for “responders,” while slowed progression (and benefit) in someone who would otherwise be a fast progressor may be missed. As proteins and genes provide complementary information, we believe that testing both together will provide a much more accurate and precise test and overcome the limitations of those currently available. (Grant partially funded through 6/30/2025)