Shortly following her first NIH-R01 award notice, Purdue Polytechnic’s researcher Miad Faezipour receives award notice as part of another $1.2 million R01 grant funded by the NIH-National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) to develop a cutting-edge implant that could change how diabetes care is conducted in the future.
Diabetes impacts more than 800 million people worldwide and over one in ten Americans, costing the U.S. more than $300 billion annually. Current treatments help mainly manage the disease but do not offer a cure.
This new device targets the body’s nerve pathways. Using advanced circuitry and edge-AI, the implant will track the signaling between the brain, stomach and pancreas, and then stimulate the vagus nerve to restore healthy signaling. This non-pharmaceutical approach could not only reverse Type 2 diabetes, but also open new doors for treating other metabolic conditions.
Faezipour disclosed the smart pacifier to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for a patent to protect the intellectual property. Industry partners interested in developing or commercializing the work should contact Patrick Finnerty, assistant director of business development and licensing, life sciences, at pwfinnerty@prf.org about track code 70507.
UAB leads this second R01 award spanning four years, with Dr. S. Abdollah Mirbozorgi serving as the PI. Other UAB co-investigators include Drs. Amy Warriner, Ananda Basu, Rita Basu, and Benjamin Larimer, with Faezipour serving as a co-investigator and Purdue’s PI on this second R01 award.
