Diabetic Nerve Pain

While the numbers are constantly rising, more than 1 in 10 Americans – or more than 34 million people – live with diabetes already today.  For many of them, nerve damage caused by diabetes – a condition called diabetic neuropathy – is a common complication that can cause painful shooting and stabbing sensations along with burning, tingling and numbness that affect the lower extremities.  To understand more about the challenges patients face due to this condition, a new national survey reveals its findings on what it truly means to live with diabetic nerve pain.  Here to discuss neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy – or diabetic nerve pain – and the survey findings is Dr. Rodica Pop-Busui, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes and Vice Chair Clinical Research, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Lindsay Colbert, Executive Director of the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy.

Rodica Pop-Busui, MD, PhD, is the Larry D. Soderquist Professor of Diabetes, a prominent diabetologist at Michigan Medicine and a recognized leader in the field of diabetes and diabetes complications. She is the Vice Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Associate Director of Clinical Research, Mentoring and Development of the Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute at the University of Michigan. Her research interests involve chronic complications of diabetes, particularly diabetic peripheral and cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy, as well as diabetic foot complications, diabetic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, and the design and conduct of traditional and pragmatic clinical trials for patients with diabetes.

Dr. Pop-Busui has published more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, and received awards from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the University of Michigan. She has chaired the most recent American Diabetes Association Position Statement on Diabetic Neuropathy, and has served as Chair of the American Diabetes Association Scientific Research Review Clinical and Chair of the ADA Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease Interest Group. She is also one of the principal investigators in the recently established NIDDK Diabetes Foot Consortium.

She has led neuropathy studies in several of the most important national and international diabetes clinical trials to date including: the NHLBI-funded Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial, the NIDDK funded Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Diabetes 2 (BARI- 2D) and Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications. In addition, she designed and leads several investigator-initiated studies funded by NIDDK and Pharma to unveil disease modifying agents for diabetic neuropathy and other diabetes complications.

Lindsay Colbert, MA, is Executive Director of the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy (FPN), a public charity organization based outside of Chicago, Illinois, that is dedicated to improving the lives of patients living with peripheral neuropathy. In her tenure with the organization, Colbert has lead FPN to increase awareness of peripheral neuropathy, prioritize research and funding in the field, and provide educational programs to patients throughout the world who are desperate for answers and hope.

Colbert holds a Master of Arts degree in International Development and French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining FPN in 2017, Colbert developed her marketing, fundraising and nonprofit management skills for over a decade at two Chicago-based institutions, namely Rotary International and Northwestern University.

She resides in a Chicago suburb with her husband and two daughters. In her free time, Colbert enjoys traveling, cycling, gardening, and playing with her children.