The Endocrine Society and American Diabetes Association criticized the cancellation of funding for the ongoing, landmark Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), which has been tracking people with diabetes and prediabetes for 30 years.
Researchers working on the study, which kicked off in 1996, found out last week that the study's NIH funding was yanked by the Trump administration. DPP investigators were told to immediately stop study activities.
"The research provides an important source of long-term information on diabetes prevention," the Endocrine Society said in a statement. "The Society is concerned about how the loss of this ongoing research, which is being conducted at 30 institutions in 21 states, will impact tens of millions of people who have diabetes and prediabetes nationwide."
According to the CDC, 38.4 million people -- representing 11.6% of the U.S. -- had diabetes, and another 97.6 million had prediabetes as of 2021. Direct and indirect costs of treating diagnosed cases of diabetes nationwide totaled around $413 billion in 2022.
"Preventing and delaying the onset of diabetes can help reduce other chronic conditions, such as heart and kidney disease, and control healthcare costs," the Endocrine Society pointed out. "Eliminating the Diabetes Prevention Program contradicts the country's commitment to addressing chronic disease and making America healthy."
Likewise, the American Diabetes Association said it was "extremely concerned about the impact" of the canceled funding and is "engaging with congressional leaders on diabetes and the Trump administration to express our concerns, especially as this funding decision seems to be at odds with the Department of Health and Human Services' commitment to combatting chronic disease in the United States."
DPP is credited with changing the approach to diabetes prevention, finding that type 2 diabetes could be prevented or delayed in high-risk patients using two, cost-effective interventions.
Compared with placebo, the study found lifestyle intervention with a goal of 7% weight loss reduced the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 58% and metformin reduced it by 31%. To prevent one case of diabetes within 3 years, 6.9 individuals would have to participate in the lifestyle intervention program and 13.9 would have to receive metformin.
Since 2002, most of its original 3,100 participants are still being followed as part of the ongoing DPP Outcomes Study (DPPOS), as researchers continue to assess a host of diabetes-related health outcomes including cancer, cardiovascular disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, eye disease, and age-related health problems like physical functioning and memory.
"Eliminating funding for the DPP/DPPOS 30-year nationwide study of program participants means the loss of a decade's worth of important findings and progress toward diabetes prevention and understanding Alzheimer's disease and associated dementia in diabetes, a recent focus of the study," the American Diabetes Association said.
Since its inception, DPP has yielded over 200 scientific publications.
According to STAT, study investigators have yet to receive a reason on why grant funding was canceled but "appears likely related" to the Trump administration's cancellation of federal grants to Columbia University, alleging it had failed to address antisemitism on campus. Over $400 million in federal grants to Columbia have been pulled by the administration, according to the New York Times.
Columbia has been managing DPP funding for the most recent part of the study since 2022, including the research related to dementia and Alzheimer's. However, more than 90% of the current funding -- totalling over $80 million -- gets distributed to the other research sites.
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Kristen Monaco is a senior staff writer, focusing on endocrinology, psychiatry, and nephrology news. Based out of the New York City office, she’s worked at the company since 2015.