Helping East African children and young adults with type 1 diabetes keep blood sugar in range

Diabetes in African Youth: Improving Glucose Time-In-Range

NIH-funded research University of Minnesota · NIH-11506265

This project sees if giving unblinded flash continuous glucose monitors to East African youth aged 4–26 helps them spend more time with blood sugar between 70–180 mg/dL than fingerstick monitoring.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of Minnesota NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Minneapolis, United States)
Project IDNIH-11506265 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you join, you'll get the same monthly diabetes education provided to all participants. For six months, half of participants (90) will use an unblinded flash CGM that shows glucose in real time, while the other half (90) will check blood sugar by fingerstick at least three times daily and wear a blinded CGM for outcome measurement. People are randomly assigned to the two groups and the study will track time-in-range and episodes of low and high blood sugar. The team will also compare costs to see if flash CGM is affordable and practical in low-resource East African settings.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Children and young adults aged 4–26 with type 1 diabetes receiving care at participating clinics in East Africa would be the ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People without type 1 diabetes, those outside the 4–26 age range, or those unable to use CGM devices or perform fingerstick monitoring are unlikely to benefit from participating.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could help East African children and young adults with type 1 diabetes have safer blood sugar levels and fewer dangerous low or high episodes.

How similar studies have performed: Continuous glucose monitoring has improved time-in-range in many studies in high-income countries, but using flash CGM in low-resource East African youth is less well-studied.

Where this research is happening

Minneapolis, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-10 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.