Diabetes Research

At Seattle Children’s, we work to make life better for kids, teens and young adults with diabetes. Our team partners with families to find new and better ways to care for diabetes.

Our studies look at:

How diabetes starts and changes as kids grow
New medicines and devices that may help with daily care
How changes in the body and life factors — like food access — affect health
Ways to support families and help kids feel more confident in their care

When families join a study, they help us learn. We are proud to work together with families and community partners, so every child with diabetes can look forward to a healthier future.

Current Research Studies

Clinical Trial / Research Study

AHEAD: Achieving Health in Emerging Adults Diabetes Program

A study looking at the impact of a clinical program designed to support emerging adults with type 1 diabetes as compared to usual care

Clinical Trial / Research Study

AWARD-PED PLUS: A Phase 3, Open-Label, Multicenter, Single-Arm Study to Evaluate Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Efficacy of Dulaglutide 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg in Pediatric Participants 10 to Less than 18 Years of Age with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

AWARD-PED PLUS is a Phase 3, open-label, multicenter, single-arm study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a medication called dulaglutide (or Trulicity) in 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg doses....

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT06739122

Clinical Trial / Research Study

Diabetes Translational Research Study

The Diabetes Translational Research project is a continuation of the JDRF Study of Autoimmunity (IRB #11115), although with broader aims. This project is a natural history study that proposes to...

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NA

Clinical Trial / Research Study

Effects of High-Resistance Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training on Cardiorenal and Vascular Function in Youth and Young Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

This is a single-blinded trial of high-resistance, short-duration inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) vs. sham (or simulated) training for three months in people with or at risk for Type 2...

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT06936670

Clinical Trial / Research Study

Impact of Disparities in Food Security on Glycemic Control and Health Care Utilization Among Youth and Young Adults with Diabetes

This study will identify the day-to-day effects of food insecurity on youth and young adults with diabetes, including impact on their diabetes management and outcomes. SFS 2 will uniquely integrate...

Clinical Trial / Research Study

InvesT1D: A financial incentives program study in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Evaluate InvesT1D's efficacy for improving adolescent clinical, behavioral, and quality of life outcomes in a full-scale randomized controlled trial.

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT06384911

Clinical Trial / Research Study

MANATEE-T1D: Metformin ANd AutomaTEd insulin delivery system Effects on renal vascular resistance, insulin sensitivity, and cardiometabolic function in youth with Type 1 Diabetes

This is a double blinded placebo trial to learn about the health effects of combining two treatments, the automated insulin delivery system and metformin, for people with type 1 diabetes.

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT05065372

Clinical Trial / Research Study

Novel Measure to Detect Eating, Exercise, and Insulin Perceptions and Behaviors in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Generating Evidence of Validity and Reliability

This is a study to develop a new tool to assess for abnormal behaviors around eating, exercise and insulin in youth with type 1 diabetes. Criteria includes Type 1 diabetes, age 12-17, youth and their...

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NA

Clinical Trial / Research Study

PANTHER study: Puberty, diAbetes, aNd THe kidnEys, when eustress becomes distRess

Our central hypothesis is that obese youth with prediabetes and T2D experience relative kidney hypoxia during puberty due to a metabolic mismatch between increased energy expenditure and impaired...

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT05008276

Clinical Trial / Research Study

RADIANT

The aim of this study is to define a process for identifying and studying individuals and families with rare and uncharacterized forms of diabetes. Genetic and phenotypic studies may help in...

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT05544266

Clinical Trial / Research Study

WAVE T1D: A Randomized Phase 1/2 Trial of Low Dose Anti-thymocyte Globulin (ATG) with Subsequent Adalimumab or Verapamil in New Onset Type 1 Diabetes

This study is being done in people with newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). We want to see if using a treatment called Anti-thymocyte Globulin (ATG), followed by either Adalimumab or Verapamil,...

Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT07061574

Find more diabetes research studies and clinical trials.

External research studies

TrialNet Type 1 Diabetes Risk Screening

Pathway to Prevention

TrialNet is an international network of leading academic institutions, endocrinologists, physicians, scientists and healthcare teams at the forefront of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.

For relatives of people with T1D, TrialNet risk screening detects the disease in its earliest stages.

Clinical Trials at Benaroya Research Institute

Benaroya Research Institute

Seattle Children’s partners with Benaroya Research Institute on diabetes research, including screening family members for type 1 diabetes and studies that aim to slow disease progression in children diagnosed within the past 90 days.

Our Researchers

Cate Pihoker, MD Program Director, Endocrinology Education; Clinic Chief, Diabetes/Endocrine (interim); Division Chief, Endocrinology As Seattle Children's principal investigator for SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth and other diabetes research studies, Dr. Cate Pihoker is leading national efforts to gain a better understanding of the differences in the development, clinical presentation, and health outcomes in youth with diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is a major health concern affecting about 16 million Americans. It is a leading cause of nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, and coronary and peripheral vascular disease. It is the third-most-prevalent severe chronic disease of childhood in the United States.

Alissa Jeanne Curda Roberts, MD As co-site PI for the T1D Exchange QI Collaborative, Dr. Roberts is leading efforts in quality improvement (QI) research focused on improving outcomes for youth and young adults with diabetes. Her work includes improving depression and diabetes distress screening, increasing technology use in patients with a primary language other than English, improving lipid screening, and improving rates of diabetes foot exams. Her studies also focus on psychosocial comorbidities in youth and young adults with diabetes around substance use, diabetes distress, stigma in diabetes, fear of hypoglycemia, and reproductive health.

Grace J Kim, MD Grace Kim, MD, is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital. She serves as clinical director of the Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Clinics at Seattle Children’s and is the pediatric liaison for the University of Washington Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program. Dr. Kim’s clinical and research work focuses on pediatric obesity, insulin resistance and the implementation of emerging pharmacotherapies for obesity in youth. She is principal investigator on multiple clinical trials evaluating novel treatments for syndromic and non-syndromic obesity and is actively involved in national efforts to advance evidence-based obesity care for children and adolescents.

Petter Mathias Bjornstad, MD Dr. Petter Bjornstad is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, and Raisbeck Endowed Chair of Diabetes Research. He also serves as the Executive Director of the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute and as a Principal Investigator at the Center for Clinican and Translational Research at SCRI. His research program is funded by NIH/NIDDK, NIH/NHLBI, Breakthrough T1D, ADA, AHA and industry.

Kalie Tommerdahl, MD, MS Kalie L. Tommerdahl, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Endocrinology at Seattle Children's Hospital and the University of Washington School of Medicine. She serves as the Director of Clinical Trial Safety at the University of Washington Medicine Diabetes Institute. Dr. Tommerdahl is an Attending Physician on the endocrinology and diabetes consult services at Seattle Children's Hospital.

Diabetes Research Team

Adam Fiebelkorn

Clinical Research Coordinator III
Beth Loots, MPH, MSW

Research Manager
Barbara Maslaney, RN, BSN, CDE

Clinical Research Coordinator III
Stephanie Purdy, BS, BA

Clinical Research Coordinator III

Improving Diabetes Outcomes Team

Ciara DeGraff

Clinical Research Coordinator I
Samantha Perez

Clinical Research Coordinator II
Tian Westland

Clinical Research Coordinator II

Seattle Children’s/UW Medicine Diabetes Institute Team

Kevin Bocek, MSW

Research Coordinator III
Amelia Johnson

Research Coordinator II
Maninderpal Singh Sethi, PA-C, PA-C

Co-Principal Investigator

Participate in Research

Our researchers offer patients and families access to the latest medical studies, known as clinical trials, aimed at finding better ways to diagnose and treat childhood diseases. Family participation in our efforts helps this process.

Support Our Research

More than half of the kids who come to Seattle Children’s live with serious conditions that they will have for the rest of their lives. Research can give them a different future. Under designation, select “Other” and enter Clinical and Translational Research.

Contact Us

Diabetes Research

For questions or inquiries, email: [email protected]

Physical Address

Center for Clinical and Translational Research
1920 Terry Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101