Martin J. Stevens, M.D.
Associate Director of the JDRF Center for the Study of Complications in Diabetes
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
(734) 615-0012; stevensm@umich.edu

Dr. Stevens is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and a diabetologist/endocrinologist at the University of Michigan Health System, and is one of the world’s leading experts on diabetic autonomic neuropathy. His research interests extend from the causes of diabetic complications and the identification of potential drug targets, to clinical trials to assess the efficacy of new therapeutic interventions. He has published over 100 articles and book chapters on the complications of autonomic neuropathy and the basic mechanisms underlying this debilitating complication.

Dr. Steven’s project will translate the findings of the JDRF Center’s in vitro and laboratory animal studies directly to human patients. Dr. Stevens and his colleagues will first examine how effects of diabetes damages the heart’s nerve fibers and blood, followed by a clinical trial that will test the therapeutic efficacy of a combination of drug therapies to halt the heart damage caused by diabetes. The drug therapies to be tested will probably include a combination of antioxidant drugs. The goal of the trial will be to evaluate whether damage to the heart’s nerves and blood flow can be fixed. The ultimate goal of Dr. Stevens’ project is to prevent sudden cardiac death in diabetic patients.

Dr. Stevens and his colleagues have laid the groundwork for the clinical trial by developing nuclear medicine techniques that allow physicians to directly diagnose damage to the heart’s nervous system and detect problems with the heart’s circulation in diabetic patients. Dr. Stevens has discovered that, in people with diabetes, nerve damage begins at the "tip" of the heart, and continues until only a small region is left containing nerve fibers. He has also demonstrated that this nerve damage restricts the heart’s blood flow, which may have important implications for the development of dangerous heart rhythms. He has also started to test the ability of blood markers to identify subjects at high risk for the development of complications.

Clinical Protocol

Clinical Care