Diabetes Institute hosts virtual research symposium

The Diabetes Institute at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine hosted its inaugural research symposium, Patient Care and Diabetes in Appalachian Ohio and Beyond, on Nov. 5-6, with more than 50 students, faculty and staff in attendance.

The symposium showcased diabetes-related research across Ohio University, along with presentations from two external keynote speakers: Venkat K. M. Narayan, M.D., M.Sc., M.B.A., the Ruth and O.C. Hubert Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and professor of medicine at Emory’s School of Medicine, and Kathleen Dungan, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine and associate director of clinical services in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at Ohio State University.   

They were joined by three Diabetes Institute distinguished members: Elizabeth Beverly, Ph.D., Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O., Endowed Professor in Behavioral Diabetes and associate professor of primary care; Sonia M. Najjar, Ph.D., M.S., Osteopathic Heritage Foundation John J. Kopchick, Ph.D., Eminent Research Chair and professor of biomedical sciences; and Vishwajeet Puri, Ph.D., M.S., Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O., Endowed Professor in Diabetes and professor of biomedical sciences.

“One of the institute’s roles is to support advancement and dissemination of research in diabetes, and the symposium was an opportunity to share progress on some of the ongoing research from laboratories of Diabetes Institute principal investigators,” said Calvin James, Ph.D., Diabetes Institute executive director. “This forum also afforded us an opportunity to celebrate those who are driven by their passion for understanding the underlying physiological and relevant social factors responsible for the growing diabetes epidemic.”

The Diabetes Institute was formed in 2012 to consolidate all campus-wide research, health outreach and patient care diabetes initiatives. Since that time, the institute has experienced considerable growth in its research portfolio, due in large part to the purposeful development of the research foci, coupled with strategic hiring to build a successful cadre of principal investigators.

“Our growth is marked by the expansion in our membership, publication of 369 original articles, over $14M in extramural funding and an acceleration in the number of research and programmatic grants submitted,” James said.