Miriam receives $2.8M from NIH to study diabetes in mothers

Rena Wing
RENA WING, director of the Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital, is lead investigator for a new study on gestational diabetes mellitus. / COURTESY THE MIRIAM HOSPITAL

PROVIDENCE – The Miriam Hospital on Monday announced it has received a $2.8 million grant to study whether weight loss could prevent recurring gestational diabetes.

The Providence-based hospital, a Lifespan Inc. member and affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, is partnering with the California Polytechnic Institute for a five-year clinical trial. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is slated to test whether losing weight between pregnancies can help women reduce the chance of developing recurring gestational diabetes.

“Because women with gestational diabetes in one pregnancy have such a high risk of developing it again in their next pregnancy, we will be working with these women to help them lose weight, become physically active and eat a healthy diet,” said Rena Wing, director of the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at Miriam.

Wing will be the study’s lead investigator, according to a press release.

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The hospital estimates about 40 percent to 73 percent of women with gestational diabetes in one pregnancy will have it again in their next pregnancy. And women with recurrence of gestational diabetes have three times the risk of prenatal and perinatal complications and future health problems, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to the release.

The study will involve more than 250 overweight or obese women with a history of gestational diabetes that plan to have another pregnancy within one to three years. It is offered at no cost to participants, who must be aged 18 years or older to qualify.

For those interested in learning more about the study, or about eligibility requirements, the center urges them to visit its website at weightresearch.org or call (401) 793-8950.

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