Aprill Dawson
Medical College of Wisconsin, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Type 2 diabetes is especially hard on older adults. Compared with younger adults, people aged 50 and older have nearly double the rate of diabetes, more complications and twice the risk of dying.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Public Health & Epidemiology
Psychology
- Topics
type 2 diabetes
older adults
aging in place
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Mar 2028
What they work on
- Determine whether a health educator-led smart speaker program is feasible and acceptable for adults aged 50 and older with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c ≥8%), measuring recruitment, retention and interview feedback.
- Measure 3-month changes in HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol among older adults receiving 12 weekly diabetes education and social-needs sessions through voice-activated smart speakers.
- Evaluate 3-month changes in loneliness, social isolation and depression among older adults with type 2 diabetes in the smart speaker intervention.
- Test the early efficacy of Joint Home-DM-BAT, a home program that combines diabetes education with behavioral activation therapy, on HbA1c, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol and quality of life in older African Americans with type 2 diabetes.
- Assess whether training informal caregivers alongside patients in Joint Home-DM-BAT improves caregiver quality of life and reduces caregiver burden.
More about the research
Managing the disease means daily self-care, such as taking medications and tracking blood sugar. That becomes harder when people also face food insecurity, transportation problems, loneliness, or lack trained help at home. These projects test home-based programs that combine diabetes education with support for social needs. The goal is to bring blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol under better control.
Why it matters
Older adults, and especially older African Americans, carry a heavy burden of type 2 diabetes and its complications. Home-based programs delivered through smart speakers or joint patient–caregiver sessions could improve blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol control. They could also ease loneliness and caregiver strain and help people age in place rather than move into institutional care. Pilot results may guide larger trials.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Voice-activated and touchscreen-controlled smart speaker intervention for adults aged 50 years and older with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes
NIH · Jun 2026 – Mar 2028
Joint Patient and Caregiver Intervention for Older African Americans with Poorly Controlled Type 2 Diabetes (Joint Home-DM-BAT)
NIH · Aug 2023 – Jul 2027
Closest labs
Jennifer Campbell
University at Buffalo, NY·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Test the preliminary efficacy of a diabetes-tailored conditional cash transfer, tied to biweekly nurse-led virtual education and stress-coping sessions, versus unconditional cash on blood sugar control and quality of life in a randomized trial.
Gabriel Frietze
University of Texas at El Paso, TX·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify barriers to and facilitators of joining diabetes self-management programs among Mexican-origin Hispanic adults with type 2 diabetes and their healthcare providers, to guide the design of an online intervention.
Sheldon Riklon
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR·Public Health & Epidemiology
Test whether Ājjmuurur Baamḷe, a family-model diabetes self-management program, improves HbA1c, blood pressure, lipids, BMI, and self-efficacy among Marshallese patients, in a cluster randomized trial delivered by community health workers in faith-based organizations.
The school
Medical College of Wisconsin: 17 labs on PI Pages, $360M a year on research, 44 research doctorates a year.
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