Project Grant R01DK147006

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health, awarded Rhode Island Hospital $343,940 on August 31, 2026, under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847) to conduct a pilot pre/post interventional clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of verapamil in adolescents and adults with cystic fibrosis-related dysglycemia.

The trial will enroll 30 adolescents (age >14 years) and adults with cystic fibrosis and abnormal glucose tolerance or early cystic fibrosis-related diabetes not yet requiring insulin therapy. The study will determine whether verapamil, a calcium channel blocker known to downregulate thioredoxin-interacting protein and preserve beta cell function in other diabetes types, improves beta cell function measured by mixed meal tolerance test-stimulated C-peptide area under the curve and reduces dysglycemia assessed via continuous glucose monitoring over a six-month treatment period. The award will also evaluate verapamil's safety and tolerability in this population.

Work is performed in Providence, Rhode Island. The period of performance runs from August 31, 2026, through July 31, 2029. This is a Project Grant, an assistance type supporting extramural biomedical research that advances prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetes and kidney diseases.