A UB scientist is working on easing diabetes treatment. Of the nearly 30 million Americans who have diabetes many must take injections to manage the disease. The new research is hoping to turn many of those injections into pills.
"If you don't follow doctors' instruction and if you skip injections and there's consequences to it," said UB Chemistry Professor Qing Lin, whose work has benefited from a new grant from the Innovation Hub to advance promising technologies.
"So, if we actually give a patient better options, for example oral therapy such as a pill. It's more likely that they will stick to this medication. So, the outcome would be better."
The numbers related to diabetes are staggering. In New York State alone, there are two million with the disease. According to the American Diabetes Association, another five million are pre-diabetic.
"Yes, funding is very important but once you have money you also need to have to have bright people to work on these projects," Lin said.
"I think UB provides such an environment for these students to work on a project that is somewhat connected to the real world."
Lin says he might have a pill ready to test on people within two years. He's already working on lab animals.
