Gayle Wagner thought being diagnosed with and treated for Type 2 diabetes meant she would finally find relief from troubling symptoms like thinning hair, blurry vision and weight loss. Her mother and aunt suffer from the same condition, so Wagner wasn’t surprised that she was on a similar path.

Except that it wasn’t true.

Wagner actually has Type 1 diabetes, a diagnosis she received after moving her care to Tulsa, Okla., physician Dr. Laura Chalmers with OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center. There, she received the correct medication to address her distressing symptoms and was connected with a health care team that encourages and guides her in fighting back against a difficult condition. 

“I am so grateful for my life,” Wagner says, “and I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. You never get a ‘day off’ with Type 1 diabetes, but I am blessed to have a great physician and team who are with me every step of the way.”

‘The Cause is the Cure’

Being a patient at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center means receiving care that is driven by research, a hallmark of the center and its growing cadre of scientists. “We don’t only treat diabetes; we study it in both human and preclinical animal models. Understanding the cause is the key to ending the disease itself,” says Harold Hamm Diabetes Center Director Jed Friedman. “It’s only through research that we can find the cause of diabetes, which can lead to a cure.”

Research into both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is thriving at the center. One of the most exciting projects in pediatric research is the DISCOVERY study, led by Dr. Jeannie Tryggestad and funded through a $3.1 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a component of the National Institutes of Health. The study aims to determine which youth face the highest risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, which is dramatically rising in the pediatric population and expected to surpass Type 1 diagnoses in the next 10 to 20 years.

“It is important that we are a part of this study because Oklahoma is particularly burdened by Type 2 diabetes. If we can predict who will develop the condition, then we can intervene early and hopefully improve overall health in the state,” says Tryggestad, an associate professor at the OU College of Medicine and co-director of OU Health’s Type 2 Diabetes Clinic for youth.

David Fields, OU’s CHF Chickasaw Nation Endowed Professor in Pediatric Diabetes, is studying the effects of breast milk on infant metabolism, analyzing chemicals that benefit health or potentially withhold those benefits. Fellow researcher Kevin Short studies fatty liver disease, one of the leading causes of Type 2 diabetes in youth. The condition is formally known as MASLD, or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

“Studies show that if a male child develops MASLD, their likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes practically approaches 100%. Looking for the root causes of that metabolic disease, and how the liver may affect the regulation of diabetes, is absolutely vital,” says Dr. David Sparling, chief of the Section of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics at the OU College of Medicine. The section is a core component of the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.

Beyond such researcher-initiated projects, the Section of Diabetes and Endocrinology is actively involved in clinical trials with pharmaceutical industry partners. Those range from studying the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs in youth, as well as new takes on devices such as insulin pumps and blood glucose monitors.

Adult diabetes research at the center is also advancing prevention and improved treatments using basic science and preclinical models of obesity and diabetes. Matthew Potthoff, a professor of biochemistry and physiology at the OU College of Medicine and deputy director of the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, discovered how a hormone called FGF21 can reverse the effects of MASLD in mice. The finding is important because FGF21 is a target for a new class of highly anticipated drugs that are in Phase 3 clinical trials. Similar to GLP-1 drugs, FGF21 acts on the brain to regulate metabolism.

“It is interesting that this metabolic hormone/drug works primarily by signaling to the brain instead of to the liver directly,” Potthoff says. 

Another development, led by OU’s Harold Hamm Chair for Adult Diabetes Research Tiangang Li, involves repurposing a cancer drug found to prevent fat buildup in the liver, a condition that often occurs with obesity and can lead to MASLD. Li now has a patent for the new use of the drug.

Harold Hamm Diabetes Center researchers have been enormously successful in earning funding for their projects. The center’s approximately 130 diabetes researchers have earned about $33 million in fiscal year 2026 grants, Friedman says. They also have a stellar track record of turning local grants into new federal dollars.

“We have awarded about $3.5 million in competitive pilot grants over the past five years that resulted in more than $13 million in federal grants based on those projects, yielding a significant return on investment in diabetes research,” he says.

Recognizing Research Excellence

In October, the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center celebrated its biennial Connect+Cure Gala, which raised $4.7 million. The majority of funds will go toward research, and a portion will support diabetes outreach and prevention—as well as sponsor participants of Camp Blue Hawk, a residential summer camp for youth ages 9 to 17 with Type 1 diabetes.

As part of the evening, the prestigious Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes was presented, the seventh such honor since 2013. The prize was awarded to Dr. Anette-Gabriele Ziegler of Germany. Ziegler’s research has been at the forefront of translating important research questions into long-term studies, including more than 20 clinical trials. 

Among her many achievements, Ziegler organized the first birth cohort to study when and how Type 1 diabetes begins and created a public screening program to detect early signs of Type 1 diabetes, now a model for similar efforts. 

Although her work takes place on a different continent, Ziegler’s research is helping Oklahomans battle diabetes through new immune therapies now available at OU Health.

“Dr. Ziegler’s vision and dedication have not only deepened our understanding of Type 1 diabetes but also led to new ways of helping patients by delaying the disease’s onset,” says Friedman, who also serves as a professor in the OU College of Medicine. “Her work shows how science and compassion can come together to make a real difference in people’s lives.” 

Hope for the Future

Science and compassion are paramount to Wagner, the Type 1 diabetes patient who now serves on the advisory board for Harold Hamm Diabetes Center and chaired the 2025 Connect+Cure Gala. The compassion Wagner’s health care team offered has inspired her to champion the science that will lead to new treatment breakthroughs for people like her.

In the early days of her diagnosis, Wagner says she wore clothes that would cover up her insulin pump and glucose monitor, afraid someone would ask about them. Now she feels empowered to let people see because it’s an opportunity to spread the word.

“I love to talk about my experiences at the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center,” she says. “They didn’t just help me manage my health; they gave my entire family hope. Because of the care and guidance I’ve received, I’m healthier and more confident about my future, and my loved ones have learned how to support me. We’re deeply grateful for everything this center has done for our family.”  

April Wilkerson is OU’s Senior Marketing and Communications Coordinator for Health Sciences Research.

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Hamm Becomes Inaugural Recipient of OU Crystal Seed Sower

Harold Hamm was honored as the first recipient of the Crystal Seed Sower, a new recognition for donors whose exceptional generosity exceeds $25 million in gifts to the University of Oklahoma. OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. presented the award to Hamm at October’s Connect+Cure Gala. 

Since 2001, more than 350 dedicated members of the Sooner family have been welcomed into the Seed Sower Society and presented with a bronze statue. The society honors and celebrates donors whose gifts to the university total $1 million or more. 

Like OU’s first president, David Ross Boyd, Seed Sower recipients have played an extraordinary role in planting seeds of excellence at the university.