Author Interviews, Diabetes, Kidney Disease, NYU, Weight Research / 20.10.2025
NYU Study Finds GLP-1 Medications Associated with Clinically Meaningful Benefit in Dialysis Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_71025" align="alignleft" width="225"]
Dr. Weintraub[/caption]
Michael A. Weintraub, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The study addresses a critical knowledge gap in diabetes
management for dialysis patients.
Of the 808,000 people on dialysis in the United States,
approximately 60% have diabetes and would be
eligible for GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs).
However, these medications have not been well-studied in this population because
dialysis dependence is frequently an exclusion criterion in clinical
trials.
Dr. Weintraub[/caption]
Michael A. Weintraub, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The study addresses a critical knowledge gap in diabetes
management for dialysis patients.
Of the 808,000 people on dialysis in the United States,
approximately 60% have diabetes and would be
eligible for GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs).
However, these medications have not been well-studied in this population because
dialysis dependence is frequently an exclusion criterion in clinical
trials.
Dr. Jiyoung Ahn[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jiyoung Ahn, PhD
Dr. Angélica Cifuentes Kottkamp[/caption]
Angélica
Dr. Ogedegbe[/caption]
Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH
Dr. Adolph & Margaret Berger Professor of Population Health
Director, Division of Health & Behavior
Director Center for Healthful Behavior Change
Department of Population Health
NYU Langone Health
NYU School of Medicine
Member of the 
Dr. Tsirigos[/caption]
Aristotelis Tsirigos, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine and Pathology
Co-director, Precision Medicine
Director, Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories
Dr. Sally Lau[/caption]
Dr. Sally Lau MD
Medical oncologist, NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center
Assistant professor of medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: How big is the problem of 
Response: Cigarette smoking is one of the well-established causes of periodontitis, but the effect of using electronic cigarettes (e-cig), especially its long-term impact on periodontal health, is not yet clearly understood. Considering the increased popularity of e-cig use, especially among teenagers and young adults, and the known effect of high nicotine concentration in e-cigarette products, we conducted this clinical research to see if there were differences in periodontal health between e-cig users, traditional smokers, and nonsmokers. The study consisted of two visits, 6 months apart, where measures of oral and periodontal health were obtained.
Our data showed significantly greater clinical attachment loss in the e-cigarette users and cigarette smokers than in the non-smokers at both study visits. In only e-cigarette users, we observed an over 0.2 mm average increase in the clinical attachment loss after 6 months. 
Dr. Gordon[/caption]
Terry Gordon PhD
Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Langone Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We are air pollution researcher and interested in unique exposure scenarios. Based on the work by Dr. Steve Chillrud, Columbia University, we did a study 5 years ago to assess air quality in over 30 subway stations in NYC. We found poor air quality in all of the underground stations but the air quality was better in some locations. So we wondered what would be air quality in different transit systems in NE United States. David Luglio, pre-doctoral candidate, led a team of students to monitor particles in the air of subway stations in metropolitan NYC's MTA, LIRR, and PATH systems, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
Dr. Bragg[/caption]
Marie Bragg, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health on Health Choice
NYU College of Global Public Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We know from previous research that children who see food advertisements eat significantly more calories than children who see non-food advertisements. Those studies led the World Health Organization and National Academy of Medicine to issue reports declaring that exposure to food advertising is a major driver of childhood obesity.
What we don’t know is how frequently unhealthy food and beverage brands are appearing in YouTube videos posted by Kid Influencers. Kid influences are children whose parents film videos of the child playing with toys, unwrapping presents, eating food, or engaging in other family-friendly activities. The parents then post the videos to YouTube for other children and parents to view for entertainment. 
Ruth Fernandez-Ruiz, MD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Rheumatology
NYU Langone Heath
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) represent a unique population in considering risk for COVID-19 with biologic, genetic, demographic, clinical and treatment issues at play. By the nature of their chronic inflammatory autoimmune condition, the presence of comorbidities, and regular use of immunosuppressants, these individuals would traditionally be considered at high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 and possibly having worse outcomes from the viral infection.
However, it might be speculated that inherently elevated type I Interferon, characteristic of the majority of patients with SLE, confers a protective effect as a first line anti-viral defense. Additionally, hydroxychloroquine, which was suggested as a potential therapeutic agent for COVID-19 early on, is used in most patients with SLE. Accordingly, we initiated this study to provide critical data needed to address the frequency and severity of COVID-19 in patients with SLE.
