Erika S. Helgeson
University of Minnesota, MN·Mathematics & Statistics
Type 1 diabetes can affect thinking and learning, and these effects may appear soon after diagnosis and worsen over time. Young children may be especially at risk because their brains are still developing.
- Fields
Mathematics & Statistics
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
type 1 diabetes
neurocognition
cognitive development
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2029
What they work on
- Help design a long-term cohort study that follows prepubertal children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes and children without diabetes to describe how the disease affects neurocognition.
- Coordinate 11 US clinical sites in the BRAINY-T1D consortium so that all sites carry out and follow a shared study protocol.
- Build consortium-wide resources for harmonizing, managing and sharing clinical, neurocognitive and neuroimaging data through common data pipelines.
- Lead statistical analysis of complex observational data to find clinical, developmental and environmental factors that worsen or protect against neurocognitive difficulties in children with type 1 diabetes.
More about the research
Their brains may be harmed by swings in blood sugar, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA, a dangerous buildup of acids in the blood) and other metabolic problems. Earlier studies hint that early onset, very high or very low blood sugar, and DKA can harm cognitive development. But those studies were often small, measured children only once, or did not capture enough clinical, brain imaging and environmental detail to explain the mechanisms.
Why it matters
Children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before puberty, and their families and doctors, could benefit from knowing which factors, such as blood sugar swings or ketoacidosis episodes, raise or lower the risk of thinking and learning problems. That knowledge could guide efforts to protect brain development in young patients.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Linda Dimeglio
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine whether more time with blood glucose in the target range protects prepubertal children with type 1 diabetes from neurocognitive difficulties, using continuous glucose monitoring and repeated neuropsychological testing over 18 months.
Mark Deboer
University of Virginia, VA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether adding real-time tracking of insulin sensitivity to the APEX automated insulin system lowers hypoglycemia risk (Low Blood Glucose Index) during and after exercise, in a randomized crossover hotel study.
Kendra Vehik
University of South Florida, FL·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify early-life plasma microRNA signatures that predict future type 1 diabetes, using longitudinal blood samples from the TEDDY cohort of genetically at-risk children.
The school
University of Minnesota: 88 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 722 research doctorates a year.
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