The American Diabetes Association (ADA) announced the recipients of its 2025 Pathway to Stop Diabetes grants totaling $6.1 million. The grants support breakthroughs in research, technology, care and health equity in the field of diabetes, according to an ADA news release.

 

Diabetes is a condition in which the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or cells are unable to use it. People with type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin to regulate their blood sugar, whereas people with type 2 diabetes lose the ability over time to use insulin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, an estimated 29.7 million Americans (8.9% of the population) had diagnosed diabetes, according to the CDC.

 

The Pathway program offers talented early-career scientists funding to explore new ideas in advancing diabetes research and clinical practice.

 

This year’s Pathway grant recipients are:

 

  • Ilia Droujinine, PhD, assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute;
  • Daniel “Dan” Seung Kim, MD, PhD, MPH, cardiovascular medicine fellow at Stanford University;
  • David Merrick, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania;
  • Rachel Goode, PhD, MPH, MSW, Wallace Kuralt Early Career Distinguished Scholar associate professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Social Work.

 

In the United States, about 13.4% of Black men and 12.7% of Black women have been diagnosed with diabetes compared with 6.9% of white adults, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

 

Diabetes has been on the rise in young people in recent years. One study found that if the rate of new diagnoses continues to increase, type 1 diabetes cases would increase about 65% and type 2 diabetes cases would increase about 700% by 2060, according to the CDC.

                                                                  

With the grant, UNC’s Goode will pilot a program to reduce disparities in type 2 diabetes risk in Black women between ages 18 and 29, according a UNC news release. 

 

The most common risk factors for type 2 diabetes are having overweight or obesity, being over age 45 and having high blood pressure, a sedentary lifestyle, a history of diabetes during pregnancy or family members who have the disease.

 

Common recommendations for treating diabetes include eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular physical activity and monitoring blood sugar.

 

Goode and her team will create a culturally relevant program to reduce binge eating and prevent weight gain in young Black women.

 

“I am excited to have the opportunity to focus on advancing the science on the prevention of diabetes in a group that is persistently underserved—Black emergent adults,” Goode told UNC. “Young adults are on track to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at record levels. I am looking forward to the time, support and guidance this award will provide to equip me to move forward to help this next generation avoid this pending threat.”

 

To read more, click #Diabetes. There, you’ll see headlines such as “Diabetes Rate Has Increased From 9.7% to 15.8% Since 2000,” “Time-Restricted Eating for Metabolic Syndrome” and “NIH Launches Large Study to Tackle Type 2 Diabetes in Young People.”