The SC CTSI connected investigator Elizabeth Beale, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, with Travis J. Williams, PhD, associate professor of chemistry, USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and helped them obtain seed funding to initiate clinical trials in obese diabetic patients. The researchers developed a method to non-invasively mimic the hormonal benefits of bariatric surgery and are preparing to initiate a second trial to show that the hormonal changes lead to improved weight management and glucose control over time. The team is working on an orally available version of their technology in the form of a nutritional supplement.
“SC CTSI’s funding in partnership with the USC Coulter Translational Research Partnership program enabled us to launch the study, but equally valuable was access to the SC CTSI Clin-ical Trials Unit, where we found excellent research facilities operated by a staff that was extremely experienced with clinical trials,” said Beale.