From left, Jennifer Hamilton, a social worker with the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital Child Development Center accepts a check for $50,750 from country artist Martina McBride and Phran Galante, chair of the Music City Tennis Invitational Tournament. The check represents the amount raised during last year’s tournament. This year’s tournament will be May 5 and 6 at the Vanderbilt Tennis Center. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Diabetes Center receives award
For the third year running, a Vanderbilt Diabetes Center clinic has received a national award for excellence in data collection. Vanderbilt’s DCCT/EDIC clinic is so good, in fact, that it has been retired from competition for the Julio Santiago Special Achievement Award to give other clinics a chance.
DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial) is a clinical study that was conducted from 1983 to 1993. It showed that keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible slows the onset and progression of eye, kidney, and nerve diseases caused by diabetes. EDIC (Epidemiology of Diabetes Intervention and Complications) follows DCCT patients for 10 additional years to determine the long-term development and progression of complications of diabetes and the genetics of complications of diabetes.
Vanderbilt is one of 28 medical centers participating in the study. The Vanderbilt DCCT/EDIC clinic is currently following 63 patients, who have all participated since they enrolled in the DCCT study between 1983 and 1985.
Dr. Michael E. May, assistant professor of Medicine, is the principle investigator of the study at Vanderbilt. Janie Lipps, R.N., has been the trial coordinator at Vanderbilt since the project began, and Libby Survant serves as the study research assistant.
The Julio Santiago Special Achievement Award is given annually in memory of Santiago, who was an internationally renowned diabetes researcher and contributor to the DCCT/EDIC study design and protocol. The award honors the clinic with the best record of collecting follow-up data on patients in the DCCT/EDIC study.
“Dr. Santiago was well liked by all of the study investigators,” Lipps said. “He encouraged everyone to strive for perfection in data collection, and our clinic is honored to have won the Santiago award three times.”