Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Colorado State University received a $119,536 Project Grant (R03) award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), effective May 6, 2026, with completion targeted for April 30, 2028. The award supports implementation science research that systematically identifies contextual determinants affecting the delivery of "What Can I Eat?" (WCIE), a tailored, five-session group-based diabetes nutrition education curriculum designed specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations with Type 2 Diabetes. The research applies the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR 2.0) methodology to address documented implementation barriers, including staffing, scheduling, and resource limitations that currently impede fidelity in program delivery across the 50+ AI/AN-serving organizations where WCIE has been disseminated.

Through this award, the research team will conduct semi-structured interviews with 40-60 key informants from AI/AN-serving healthcare and community-based organizations to co-develop feasible implementation strategies. This research enhances an ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluation and directly addresses the critical gap between WCIE's demonstrated effectiveness and its real-world implementation challenges. The work supports NIDDK's programmatic objectives to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetes through evidence-based approaches tailored to health disparities affecting underserved populations.