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July 16, 2019<\/p>\n
Insulin, a medication used to treat diabetes, is temperature-sensitive and has a short shelf life. It can be stored unopened for up to a year, but once opened, it must be used within weeks or even days. Because insulin is composed of proteins suspended in a water-based solution that facilitates its delivery and preservation, if it isn\u2019t refrigerated or used shortly after opening, those proteins can break down and become ineffective.<\/p>\n
While many Americans may not consider insulin storage requirements much of a problem, diabetics who lack resources could be at high risk. According to the community health organization Partners in Health, about\u00a0one out of three members of the Navajo Nation suffers from diabetes or prediabetes<\/a>, and many of them live in rural areas where they may not have electricity or easy access to health care resources such as pharmacies.<\/p>\n To address the problem of insulin\u2019s temperature sensitivity,\u00a0Gerrick Lindberg<\/strong>, assistant professor of physical chemistry in NAU\u2019s\u00a0Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry<\/a>, will use a $60,000 National Institutes of Health grant awarded through the\u00a0Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative<\/a>\u00a0to study whether ionic liquids or deep eutectic solvents could be substituted for a water solution to preserve and deliver insulin.<\/p>\n