Diabetes Dateline
Spring/Summer 2008
DMICC Explores Expanding Collaboration to Translate Diabetes Research into Practice
 Federal agencies involved with diabetes research, prevention, and treatment brainstormed about collaborating to better translate research into practice during a recent meeting of the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee (DMICC).
The DMICC, which includes representatives of 23 federal organizations and liaison representatives from the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, is charged with coordinating the activities of all federal programs with programs related to diabetes and its complications. DMICC members heard from colleagues about ongoing federal diabetes initiatives during the spring meeting. They included the
Special Diabetes Program for American Indians. Kelly Acton, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention, explained how the IHS actively and rapidly translates National Institutes of Health-funded and other diabetes research into programs that improve people’s lives at the community level.
Acton described the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, which, now in its tenth year, spends $150 million annually to provide grants for diabetes treatment and prevention services in 399 IHS, tribal, and urban Indian health programs. The program serves about 569 tribes and villages.
As part of the program, the Diabetes Prevention Demonstration Project focuses on preventing diabetes among at-risk American Indians and Alaska Natives. The project is implementing the 16-week Diabetes Prevention Program curriculum with some modifications for the nonresearch setting and for cultural sensitivity. Diabetes Data Analysis. Sheila Roman, M.D., M.P.H., a senior medical officer in the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), discussed three databases maintained by CMS with diabetes data, including the
Chronic Condition Data Warehouse, a patient-centric research database that supports studies for improving the quality of care and reducing the cost of care for chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries, the integration of existing CMS administrative databases, and identification of new research data needs. Medicare Quality Monitoring System, a surveillance system that provides quality indicators of health care provided to Medicare beneficiaries for various clinical and topical areas from 1992 through 2001—and beyond in some cases. The system includes utilization and process and outcome quality measures for diabetes. Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, a survey of a national sample of all Medicare beneficiaries that includes survey data on 2,400 patients with diabetes living in the community and a section of diabetes probes every other year.
Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Larissa Aviles-Santa, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E., project officer of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, discussed this National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-lead epidemiological study. The study, which is the largest study of Hispanic/Latino health ever done, will examine the prevalence of and risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other conditions among U.S. Hispanic/Latino populations and will recruit 16,000 participants at four sites: Bronx, NY; Chicago; Miami; and San Diego. The study, which is currently funded through 2013, will include data collection about diabetes and kidney disease among Hispanic/Latino populations.
Following recruitment and baseline examination, participants will be followed annually to ascertain changes in health and fatal cardiovascular and noncardiovascular events. Another key component of the study is evaluation of the influence and assimilation of North American culture on health and chronic disease risk. The study will further knowledge of Hispanic/Latino health and the development of Hispanic/Latino investigators.
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NIH Publication No. 08–4562
August 2008
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