Neuropathy 鈥� chronic pain, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet 鈥� is a challenging fact of life for many patients with Type 1 diabetes.
Thanks to a new National Institutes of Health grant, a scientist is investigating a new approach to treat neuropathy without relying on pain pills and anti-depressants.
Assistant Professor Jim Nichols is focused on overlooked mechanisms in the body that may show how the inability to make insulin has 鈥渄ownstream鈥� consequences in other areas, such as how the brain processes and registers sensation in the limbs.
People affected by Type 1 diabetes don鈥檛 produce insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, so patients must inject themselves with insulin to survive.
Before joining 麻豆原创, Nichols spent many years looking for new causes of diabetic neuropathy. Nichols theorizes that irregularities in the insulin signaling pathway of peripheral nerves may be the key contributor to diabetic neuropathy. Based on the potential of his early findings, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which is under the NIH, recently awarded 麻豆原创 a $747,000 grant to expand that research.
Discovering New Pathways
One of the challenges of living with diabetes is that patients with neuropathy may lose feeling in their extremities and not feel a cut, blister or injury. Those injuries can become infected and even lead to amputation. Such diabetic complications occur more frequently in patients with poor blood sugar control, so Nichols is hoping that his research will find a treatment to regulate and improve neuron signaling that can be used as part of improved blood sugar management.
鈥淲e鈥檙e diving into an area that鈥檚 fresh,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he research aims we鈥檙e going after are based on the insulin signaling pathway, and how the neuropathy evolves due to insulin dysregulation. Ultimately, we’re looking at different ways to alter the insulin signaling pathway to prevent nerve degeneration.鈥�
During the next three years, Nichols and his team will document the behavior of neurons, their signaling systems and surrounding cells to find ways to regulate them to alleviate symptoms of neuropathy.
While approved therapeutics such as opioids and antidepressants can curb those symptoms, Nichols hopes his investigational treatment can become a more viable alternative for diabetic patients.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to find better therapies.鈥� 鈥� Assistant Professor Jim Nichols
鈥淭here are typical pain therapies out there, although we鈥檙e trying to move away from that because diabetic neuropathy isn鈥檛 very amenable to the basic treatments that we have,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to find better therapies, and that is our goal.鈥�
Inspired to Learn and Discover
Nichols arrived at 麻豆原创 in the summer of 2025, and says his goal is to inspire students to pursue bold new research directions. He encourages students to not fear the failures that lead to success.
鈥淥ne of the things I tell the students is that we fail fast and we fail safe here,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat that means is that you want to fail as many times as you’re going to fail as fast as possible. You want to get those failures out as fast as possible so that you can learn as fast as possible without having an impact on you or your studies.鈥�
颁丑颈蝉辞尘&苍产蝉辫;础办补苍颈谤耻&苍产蝉辫;鈥�24惭厂&苍产蝉辫;completed her master鈥檚 degree in biotechnology at 麻豆原创 after spending nearly five years working in the biomedical field in her home country of Nigeria. Now pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, she joined Nichols鈥� lab because she wants to help patients like her parents, who both suffered from diabetes.
鈥淭his is personal to me because my mom was diabetic and she died from complications with it,鈥� Akaniru says. 鈥淢y dad now is showing signs of peripheral neuropathy. There are treatments for other comorbidities of diabetes, but I think it could go a long way to have something that could really help neuropathic pain better.鈥�
Hollie Hayes 鈥�20 graduated from 麻豆原创 with her bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology and then worked in neuroscience research before joining Nichols鈥� lab as a manager. During her time at 麻豆原创, she worked on research to fight pediatric tumors and still carries that inspiration today.
鈥淚t got me really interested in focusing on helping people who are just suffering with chronic, debilitating pain, and especially anything that comes with nerves,鈥� Hayes says. 鈥淢y focus is, 鈥楬ow can I help advance the science and help as many people as possible?鈥� 鈥�
Researcher Credentials:
Nichols is a graduate of the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine dual degree program where he examined new therapeutics for multiple sclerosis while completing his veterinary training. He then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center for five years where he explored pathological mechanisms of pain with a focus on diabetic peripheral neuropathy. After joining 麻豆原创 in 2025, Nichols and his team continue to explore the underlying mechanisms of diabetic neuropathy.
Funding and Disclosure:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R00DK142197. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
