Center Receives $11 Million Grant

Monday, October 29th 2007, 11:42 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The diabetes center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is receiving an $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant awarded to the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center will help fund research and intervention for diabetes in Native Americans.

Oklahoma ranks at the top in the nation in the number of people with diabetes per capita. More than 200,000 people in Oklahoma, about 10%, are diabetic, and at least 600,000 more are pre-diabetic.

Among some of the state's American Indian communities, the rate can be as high as 40%.

The OU Board of Regents created the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center in November 2006 with the support of the state Legislature and the Harold and Sue Ann Hamm Foundation of Enid.