Program Objectives

Creation of a resource of consented patients to facilitate connections between academic researchers and the community, in particular related to type 2 diabetes mellitus, but not limited to it. This is in essence a biobank, with specimens, patient data, and patients consented for contact for future studies and use of DNA in future studies. This is the key piece of CDDOM, and through this mechanism we will improve the health of patients with type 2 diabetes, particularly in underserved communities. We will form this biobank in partnership with El Rio Community Health Center in the Tucson area, and Mariposa Community Health Center centered in Nogales.

This biobank will provide the substrate for academic research and its translation to the community. For example, one of our focus areas is patients with difficult to control type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. Better control of glycemia is a key feature of reporting for Accountable Care Organizations and Federally Qualified Health Centers, and most importantly, will reduce diabetes morbidity and mortality. We will facilitate trials to better understand how to reduce the proportion of poorly controlled diabetes (hemoglobin A1C>9.0%). We also will focus on research to understand how to implement programs known to prevent diabetes in prediabetic patients, recruiting participants with prediabetes, as well as family members. Our resources will facilitate rigorous research to assess the outcomes of such interventions.

By conducting such projects as partners with Community Health Centers, CDDOM is connecting UAHS knowledge development directly with community partners and speeding the time from knowledge development to clinical care.