Preventing Diabetes in the Deep South: Extending Partnerships and Adapting Interventions to Reach Rural Communities at High Risk.

Diabetes is responsible for a huge and growing burden of patient suffering and social costs, and the impact of this disease is shared disproportionately by minorities and in rural resource-challenged communities, particularly in the Deep South. To address this problem, the University of Alabama (UAB) Diabetes Research Center (DRC) will establish a primary care clinical network in rural counties of Alabama and in the Mississippi delta that will provide the (DRC) and its members with opportunities for partnership and the infrastructure to conduct translational and clinical research in those patients with the greatest need. A pilot trial will be conducted within the coalition to assess feasibility for a larger trial to evaluate a novel and sustainable approach for diabetes prevention that involves an innovative lifestyle intervention combined with metformin.