The Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research (WU-CDTR) is the intellectual home to an outstanding network of investigators conducting cutting-edge research on the root causes of diabetes inequities.

With the Administrative Core housed at Washington University in St. Louis, we work with our partners at the Council on Black Health, at Drexel University, and the University of Missouri, Columbia, to support a national network of 87 investigators.

We are guided by a strategic vision in which a health equity lens is the foundation for transformative diabetes research translated into action and impact.

This equity-driven vision informs our Center mission to be the nexus for transdisciplinary team science in advancing the conduct of the next generation of diabetes translation research.

Our goal is to advance a rigorous, scientific evidence base to inform the dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of efficacious interventions for populations at risk for diabetes disparities.

Research

Our network of investigators are conducting research on the root causes of diabetes inequities, informed by social determinants of health and organized around five thematic areas:

  • biobehavioral discovery
  • living and working conditions
  • health care context
  • health information and technology environment
  • community, policy and systems research

History

As one of seven NIDDK-funded Centers for Diabetes Translation Research, we focus on translating interventions that have demonstrated efficacy into real-world healthcare settings, communities, and populations at-risk, leveraging in this effort the immense scientific resources of multiple NIH and other funded centers relevant to the prevention of type 2 diabetes at Washington University and our partner institutions.