what we do

Scientist in lab coat working with lab equipment

research program

Diabetes Action has provided grants to hundreds of researchers at universities and medical institutions across the United States. In addition to funding research to cure diabetes with gene therapies, immunotherapy, and beta cell transplantation, Diabetes Action funds research on nutrition and research to treat and prevent complications. Diabetes Action has funded innovative studies that include: 

  • Cure of type 1 diabetes using a generic drug
    Massachusetts General Hospital

  • Cinnamon and chromium antioxidant studies
    USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center

  • Acupuncture for treating neuropathy
    Harvard Medical School

  • Precision biologics for the treatment of type 1 diabetes
    Albert Einstein College of Medicine

  • 3D bioprinting for fabrication of pancreatic devices
    Penn State University

  • Novel Immunotherapy to treat diabetes-induced kidney failure
    University of Maryland School of Medicine

  • Manuka honey to improve diabetic wound healing
    Saint Louis University

send a kid to diabetes camp

Young girl with goggles in pool

Diabetes Action provided funding to 52 separate camp programs across the United States in 2022. These camps combine the fun of swimming, horseback riding, tennis, and other enriching activities with nutritional and lifestyle education in a nurturing environment that helps children to learn how to be healthy and thrive while having diabetes.

These special camps empower kids with diabetes to live active lives and teaches them that they can believe in themselves and never stop reaching for their dreams despite their disease. As one camper expressed, “Camp is my happy place that I call home - I can’t thank you enough for helping”.

Another camper stated, “Camp has become my second home. Diabetes is definitely a struggle but camp has taught me so much and I’ve learned to accept myself and this life changing disease; without you that would not be possible”.

Without financial assistance many children would not be able to take advantage of this life-changing opportunity, and we are grateful that we can help make it possible to fulfill the dreams of so many children.

American indian diabetes prevention program

Children gardening

Ongoing support from Diabetes Action helped the Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) continue its health and wellness programs based on Lakota values and traditions for youth living on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. In 2022, 60 teens participated in various internships aimed at encouraging healthy skills and opportunities including a commitment to good nutrition to improve their own and family’s health.  In the food sovereignty program, interns grew and harvested 9,532 pounds of fruits and vegetables from the organic Winyan Toka Win Garden. Other internships taught indigenous cooking and physical fitness. Julie Garreau, Executive Director of CRYP, contributed to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2022 report on its annual State of Childhood Obesity Report.