UB physician receives abstract award for research on Type 1 diabetes and liraglutide

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nitesh D. Kuhadiya, MD, assistant professor in the University at Buffalo Department of Medicine, has won an award for his abstract “Liraglutide as Additional Treatment to Insulin in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Clinical Trial.”

The Helmsley Charitable Trust Abstract Award in Type 1 Diabetes was given to Kuhadiya in conjunction with ICE/ENDO 2014, the annual meeting of the International Congress of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society, which took place June 21 - 24 in Chicago.

Kuhadiya’s research, presented at ICE/ENDO on June 22, was the first randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial to show that adding liraglutide to insulin in Type 1 diabetics resulted in significant improvements in glucose control, including reductions in the hemoglobin A1C (the average blood sugar measurement over 90 days), total insulin dose, blood pressure, body weight, carbohydrate intake and C-reactive protein.

Results of the study, which involved 54 patients taking liraglutide and 18 taking placebo, are being submitted to a journal for publication. Kuhadiya also presented these findings at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology meeting in May in Las Vegas. News coverage of his presentation there was cited by Medscape as one of the top news stories to come out of the meeting.

The Helmsley Charitable Trust Abstract Award recognizes the outstanding work of trainees and early-career professionals in the field. The top abstracts on research relevant to the underlying mechanism, pathophysiology or clinical care of Type 1 diabetes, are chosen for this award. Recipients must be currently in training or within 10 years of receiving their terminal degree.

Kuhadiya, who joined the UB faculty last year, earned his MBBS (the British Commonwealth equivalent of an MD) at the H. M. Patel Center for Medical Care and Research in India, an MPH in epidemiology from Tulane University, and an MD from Mount Sinai Medical Center in Jersey City, where he was named valedictorian and most outstanding third-year resident. He also did postgraduate work in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in UB’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Kuhadiya sees patients through UBMD, the physician practice plan of the UB medical school.

He lives in Amherst.