College News

Recruitment is underway for a University of Oklahoma College of Medicine study that seeks to better understand the factors driving Type 2 diabetes in youth, with the aim of determining who is at highest risk for developing the disease. OU is part of a nationwide consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health to address the dramatic rise of youth diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes over the past two decades, a trend that is expected to continue.

Patients discharged from the hospital after treatment for a major infection often continue receiving antibiotics through an IV line at home. However, medication adherence can be challenging because of a variety of barriers, and patients often find themselves readmitted to the hospital with infection-related complications. IV Ensure, an innovative remote therapeutic monitoring device being studied in a University of Oklahoma clinical trial, reduced the odds of infection-related hospital readmission by 76% at 30 days after hospital discharge and by 68% up to 90 days after discharge.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Oklahoma a five-year, $17.2 million grant to partner with tribal nations and communities to improve cancer outcomes. Research has shown that the American Indian and Alaska Native population in Oklahoma experiences a 36% higher incidence of cancer and a 73% higher death rate from cancer than faced by the U.S. general population.

As people age, the liver is among several organs that experience chronic, low-grade inflammation, a state that keeps the immune system activated even though there is no threat. Liver inflammation has been linked to several liver diseases, such as fatty liver disease and liver cancer, but the liver also communicates with the brain, triggering inflammation that can lead to cognitive decline. University of Oklahoma researcher Deepa Sathyaseelan, Ph.D., recently earned a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the reasons behind this liver-brain crosstalk and test methods of protecting both organs.

Soon after a dementia diagnosis, many people document their preferences for medical care near the end of their lives, often stipulating that they want to avoid hospitalizations and aggressive interventions. A new University of Oklahoma study aims to discover whether the actual care they receive aligns with their preferences.