IPSR Research Luncheon - November 2026

About this event

Join the Institute for Policy and Social Research for our November 2026 research luncheon! Lunch will be provided. Please email ipsr@ku.edu if you would like to attend. Let us know if you require any accommodations or have any dietary restrictions.

A Diabetes Intervention in the Upper Amazon

David Robbins, director of KU Diabetes Institute, director of Cray Diabetes Management Center

A family of five living in the Upper Amazon of Peru will consume about 20 pounds of white rice per week. Across the developing world, white rice consumption strongly correlates with type 2 diabetes (adult onset). White rice quickly releases sugar into the bloodstream. We need an innovative, cost-effective intervention to reduce the incidence of diabetes. Robbins and his team tested a new rice cultivar that slowly releases carbohydrates after eating. Theoretically, such foods with a “low glycemic index” are less likely to cause diabetes. Robbins will present preliminary results from a double-blind, placebo-controlled study introducing a low-glycemic variety of white rice in a village in the upper Amazon of Peru.

IPSR is a research center supporting social scientists who focus on social problems and policy-relevant questions. Our monthly research luncheons provide a space for affiliated faculty and staff researchers to share their own ongoing work with the KU community.