DAILY LOBO new mexico
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tuesday August 20, 2013
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UNM gets $2.8M to study diabetes Grant will fund study with 150 participants by Chloe Henson
news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 UNM recently accepted millions of dollars to study diabetes. The National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases awarded a $2.8 million grant to the UNM Health Sciences Center earlier this month. The grant will fund the University’s participation in a project called Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness (GRADE) Study, which will focus on finding treatments for Type 2 diabetes. “It was a competitive grant in which we had to apply,” Elizabeth Duran-Valdez, a clinical research associate for GRADE, said. “There were 37 sites that were chosen throughout the U.S.” The application process began in June, according to a press release from the NIH for the study. The long-term study will assess the risks and benefits of four different types of drugs, which supplements a medication called
metformin, for Type 2 diabetes, Duran-Valdez said. She said although metformin is a common initial treatment for patients with the disease, no one knows what the next best treatment option is. “Typically, most people will eventually need a second drug to be added (after the metformin),” she said. “This is the first time a study has looked at what’s the next best drug to add to metformin.” Duran-Valdez said the study will last for seven years and will involve 5,000 participants nationwide, including 150 people from New Mexico. The HSC is seeking volunteers to participate in the study, she said. “The recruitment period is three years, so we have three years to get that 150 people,” she said. “People will volunteer but they will need to meet the study criteria in order to be in the study.” To be able to volunteer for the study, participants must have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the last five years, Duran-Valdez said. She said they should currently be taking only metformin to treat their diabetes, and that women who want to participate cannot be pregnant. GRADE will be providing diabetes education to participants in the
Vikki Lobato / Daily Lobo Equipment to test participants diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes rest on lab benches in the Diabetes Research & Treatment Center on Monday. The National Institutes of Health awarded a $2.8 million grant to the UNM Health Sciences Center earlier this month to study treatments for Type 2 diabetes. study, Duran-Valdez said. While the study will be conducted nationwide, David Schade, the principal investigator for the study at UNM, said he believes that the study will have special benefits for New Mexicans. “It’s also important to New Mexicans because we’re providing medications free,” he said. “We’re providing doctor visits free. So there are a lot of people maybe having
trouble finding a doctor, or getting medications, or even affording them. And we can provide all of that at no cost for 150 people.” According to data from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 8.1 percent of adults in New Mexico were diagnosed with diabetes in 2010. Schade said UNM will work efficiently with the NIH because it has
experience conducting diabetes research. He said he is confident UNM will be able to successfully execute the study. “We have a long track record of these types of studies and doing well. In other words, we’ve been a diabetes center for maybe 30 years,” he said. “The NIH wants to choose a winner in New Mexico, and we’re probably the most experienced place to do this.”
by Thomas Romero-Salas
team and subsequently come back to the program was a “mutual” decision by the Jacksons and Davie, Rashad said. Davie said it was the right decision to bring the sophomore cornerbacks back but that the decision was his alone. “They start at the bottom. They’re going to have to work their way up the depth chart … that’s the only criteria there is,” he said. Both twins said it was hard not being able to practice with the team the past week and a half. “It was pretty tough. We were just working out at home, and not being with our teammates was tough,” Rashad said. Vershad said the team is more than happy to see the twins return. “All the guys are loving, welcoming with open arms. They want to see us back on the field,” he said. The Jacksons are among several players who have left UNM only to return. Other players include: junior running back Crusoe Gongbay, sophomore wideout Donnie Duncan and sophomore offensive lineman Johnny Vizcaino. “I’ve had good success with guys who have been given second opportunities,” Davie said.
Jackson twins back on football team sports@dailylobo.com @ThomasRomeroS
Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo Defensive back Rashad Jackson practices with the New Mexico football team at the Lobo practice field Monday afternoon. The program announced that the twins, Rashad and Vershad Jackson, have rejoined the team.
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Daily Lobo volume 118
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Stomp the line
Rolling over the competition
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Rashad and Vershad Jackson’s leave from the New Mexico football team didn’t last long. On Monday the program announced that the twins have rejoined the team. “We are grateful to have this second opportunity and are excited to be back with our teammates,” Rashad and Vershad said in a statement Monday. The announcement comes less than two weeks after head coach Bob Davie announced that the Jacksons were no longer part of the team. On Aug. 7, Vershad Jackson was suspended from the team after refusing to re-enter practice, apparently in support of Rashad. Earlier in the practice, Davie had removed Rashad from the field for not playing up to Davie’s standards. Rashad said the incident at practice was an “overreaction.” “It’s something that should’ve never occurred. It was a spur of the moment and a lack of character,” he said Monday after practice. “We’re going to bounce back and get better.” Both the decision to leave the
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