Researchers Partner With William Sansum Diabetes Center

Family Health Research (FHR) hopes to recruit more participants from Santa Barbara for its Gestational Diabetes Prevention study through a new partnership with the William Sansum Diabetes Center. Researchers launched the National Institutes of Health funded project last summer to examine whether improving weight, eating and activity before pregnancy reduces the mother’s long-term risk of gestational diabetes. This condition develops during pregnancy and can cause long-term health problems for mothers and their babies.

The study currently has 20 participants enrolled from the Central Coast and another 11 at Brown University, where researchers are collaborating on the study. Partnering with Sansum will allow researchers to reach more women on the Central Coast. The study determines the efficacy of a pre-pregnancy lifestyle intervention to reduce gestational diabetes, and women who have had diabetes in their last pregnancy and are overweight or obese are eligible.

“It is thrilling to be working with such an established research institute,” said FHR research assistant Ali Hernandez. Hernandez was part of a group of researchers who visited Sansum last month. “We can’t wait to reach out about our study and learn from each other,” Hernandez added.

Since its creation in 1944, Sansum researchers have been studying the artificial pancreas and diabetes in pregnancy. Kristin Castorino, a D.O. with Sansum, will lead recruiting efforts. Sansum hopes to recruit one or two participants a month, and phlebotomists from the research center will help staff with blood draws and visits.

Please contact Casey Heaney at heaney@calpoly.edu or at 805-756-5365 for more information on the Gestational Diabetes Prevention study.