{"id":151231,"date":"2026-02-27T09:29:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=151231"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:22:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:22:34","slug":"ucf-researcher-developing-new-therapy-to-treat-diabetic-neuropathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-researcher-developing-new-therapy-to-treat-diabetic-neuropathy\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Researcher Developing New Therapy to Treat Diabetic Neuropathy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neuropathy \u2014 chronic pain, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet \u2014 is a challenging fact of life for many patients with Type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a new National Institutes of Health grant, a UCF College of Medicine<\/a> scientist is investigating a new approach to treat neuropathy without relying on pain pills and anti-depressants.<\/p>\n

Assistant Professor Jim Nichols is focused on overlooked mechanisms in the body that may show how the inability to make insulin has \u201cdownstream\u201d consequences in other areas, such as how the brain processes and registers sensation in the limbs.<\/p>\n

People affected by Type 1 diabetes don\u2019t produce insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, so patients must inject themselves with insulin to survive.<\/p>\n

Before joining UCF, Nichols spent many years looking for new causes of diabetic neuropathy. Nichols theorizes that irregularities in the insulin signaling pathway of peripheral nerves may be the key contributor to diabetic neuropathy. Based on the potential of his early findings, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which is under the NIH, recently awarded UCF a $747,000 grant to expand that research.<\/p>\n