Dear Colleagues,
One of the things that makes MU Health Care truly special is the remarkable work happening every day across our organization, often in places many of us don’t get to see up close. Today, I want to highlight a team whose impact reaches far beyond our campus: the Diabetes Diagnostic Laboratory (DDL).
The DDL is an internationally recognized leader in diabetes-related testing, and it serves as the headquarters of the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program.
In simple terms, this means that our MU Health Care colleagues help set the standards that laboratories across the world follow to make sure diabetes tests are accurate, consistent and meaningful. When clinicians or researchers in another state or country run a test to monitor diabetes, they often rely on methods and standards that our DDL team helped establish.
A good example of this is the Hemoglobin A1c test, which many people with diabetes know well. This test measures a person’s average blood sugar levels over the past few months, and is a key tool in diagnosing diabetes and helping patients manage it. The DDL specializes in high-quality HbA1c testing for everything from small research projects to large, long-term clinical trials.
Because of their reputation for accuracy and consistency, they oversee the international program that ensures every HbA1c testing method meets the highest standards. Whether an HbA1c test is done here in Missouri or halfway around the globe, the DDL plays a major role in making sure the results can be trusted.
The team’s expertise goes well beyond HbA1c. They also play an important role in standardizing C-peptide testing, which helps measure how much insulin a person’s body can still produce. This work is especially important for people with Type 1 diabetes, as even a small amount of remaining insulin production can help prevent long-term complications. By standardizing how these tests are run across different labs and studies, the DDL is helping make research results more comparable and, ultimately, improving care for patients everywhere.
Hosting the DDL and dedicated experts like Dr. Kuanysh Kabytaev positions MU Health Care as a leader in diagnostic science. Please join me in recognizing the DDL team for their outstanding contributions. Their work is a powerful example of how MU Health Care continues to make a meaningful impact far beyond our local community, influencing diabetes care and research on a global scale.
Sincerely,
Rick Barohn, MD
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson Dean, School of Medicine
rbarohn@health.missouri.edu
