Congratulations to Dr. Katie Larson Ode, who was just named the recipient of a research grant award. The award comes from the joint Minnesota-Iowa Diabetes Research Center (MIDRC) as part of an initiative to foster collaborative diabetes research between the two institutions. For the research project, Dr. Larson Ode has teamed up with Univ of Minnesota physician Dr. Melena Bellin, whom is also a pediatric endocrinologist. A portion of children who develop chronic or recurrent acute pancreatitis will develop diabetes. However, the reasons for this are poorly understood. To better understand why, and hopefully delineate preventative strategies, Drs. Larson Ode and Bellin will enroll children with pancreatitis into a study in which glucose monitors and meal tests will be used to determine how well their pancreases are functioning to produce insulin and control blood sugar.