Dr. Larson-Ode was recruited to UI eight years ago to establish a CFRD presence and clinic. Since then she has been highly engaged in the ferret and pig CFRD research programs at UI. Her own research focuses on early CFRD pathogenesis in toddlers and young CF children, and she performed the first oral glucose tolerance study in this age bracket, confirming abnormalities that were first observed in CF ferrets. Dr. Larson-Ode was awarded the CF Foundation (CFF) “EnVision CF: Emerging Leaders in CF Endocrinology” career development grant and runs a CFF-funded multi-center clinical study on glucose tolerance in CF. Her clinical research and biobanked blood and plasma samples are key to the Center’s efforts in the identification of biomarkers of early islet failure in CF. These biomarkers are expected to be predictive of progression to CFRD in the longer term.