The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) www.niddk.nih.gov within NIH released the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Impact of the Use of Glucose Monitoring and Control Technologies on Health Outcomes and Quality of Life in Older Adults with Type 1 Diabetes” to study the use of current and emerging technologies for monitoring blood glucose and insulin administration in older adults with T1D.
The availability of novel semi/automated technologies such as Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM) that in real-time can tell the user the level and trends of blood glucose values has truly advanced the management of the disease.
Recent evidence indicates that CGM may contribute to improved glycemic control without an associated increase in hypoglycemia. When hypoglycemia is detected or predicted, such devices may help individuals avoid severe hypoglycemic events.
It has been found in recent studies that older adults particularly those with longstanding diabetes are more prone to hypoglycemia than others. For Medicare beneficiaries, hypoglycemia is a dominant complication of diabetes in older adults that have had the disease for a long time.
Lack of awareness in the older population of the complication for hypoglycemia can result in more ER visits, accidents, seizures, and cardiac events for older adults. Therefore, the older population can benefit from the use of technologies to maintain glycemic control and simultaneously help avoid hypoglycemia. In addition, studies need to be done to identify how devices can be modified to make it easier for older individuals to use.
NIDDK intends to commit $10 million in FY 2016 and plans to fund 3-5 awards with the maximum project period to be five years. The FOA (RFA-DK-15-028) was posted September 24, 2015, with the letter of intent due February 3, 2016, and the application is due March 3, 2016. Eligible applicants can include higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profits, governments, plus others, along with non-domestic entities.
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-15-028.html to view the funding announcement.