November is recognized as National Diabetes Awareness Month, and in this Q&A, faculty member Dr. Saleh discusses her research on diabetic eye disease and her passion for educating.
What led you to begin researching eye disorders and diabetes?
Learning about diabetes and related vision loss was an interest of mine from a young age. I saw how a family member battled diabetes and its complications, including losing vision and becoming blind. That drove me to pursue health and biomedical research, help people with diabetes and assist in finding a cure or prevent vision loss that can result from diabetes. As an undergraduate, I majored in Clinical Laboratory Sciences and worked in a diagnostic lab where I worked first-hand with patients and contributed to their diagnosis and clinical testing as they managed their clinical conditions. Later, I completed a Ph.D. in Physiology at Kansas State University and focused my research on understanding cataracts and diabetic retinopathies — both progressive eye conditions and the leading vision complications for individuals with diabetes that can lead to blindness. My research focused on understanding the biomedical pathways that lead to these eye conditions, testing potential treatments that can prevent the progression of the disease, and potentially prevent blindness. After my Ph.D., I completed post-doctoral training at Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Neuroscience. There, I tested similar biomedical pathways in other diseases.
Currently, I am the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Affairs at the College of Health Professions and Sciences, emphasizing all aspects of undergraduate education and student success. I have focused my interest on community health awareness and outreach. I developed programs and events that engaged students and the community in initiatives to improve their health and well-being in an effort to prevent risk for chronic diseases, including diabetes. I believe this community health awareness concentration translates the biomedical and clinical recommendations into applied practical activities for our community and will directly impact the health of our students and the local community.
How do you think your work will change the outcome of the lives you want to impact?
I believe my research contributed to the collective efforts for a cure for cataracts formed from diabetes. Our research showed promising effects on slowing the progression of diabetic eye disease and advancing drug and animal testing. Unfortunately, it did not make it to the production phase. So, I believe we definitely contributed to moving the needle in the progression of research in diabetic eye disease.
Additionally, my current efforts in community health awareness and prevention directly impact the lives of our local community and our students who engage in these community health events and will join the healthcare workforce upon graduation.
What aspect of your research are you proud of the most?
I am proud and thankful that I was part of the full circle of diabetes research. Earlier in my career, I contributed to biomedical and drug development research for diabetes. Now I am an active researcher in translating these findings through hands-on community awareness and health improvement events.
What is one thing everyone should know about diabetes?
Know your risks for developing chronic diseases, including diabetes, and manage the ones you can control. For example, we can control our diet and physical activity: two risk factors for type 2 diabetes. You might not prevent diabetes completely, but reducing some risk factors can reduce your chance of developing diabetes.
Where would you like to see diabetes research in the next decade?
I would like to see a focus on the promotion of wellness and lifestyles focused on health outcomes. The incidence of type 2 diabetes is exponentially increasing, and lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity are prominent risk factors for this condition.
