PROJECTS
THE PROGRAM
The SAADAP is a pilot program that ran for the very first time with a group of teenagers in the Peel Region. We collected research throughout the program to determine if our approach is effective, and what needs to be changed to make it better.
TEAM
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Ananya Banerjee
Co-investigators:
Dr. Harpreet Bajaj
Dr. Russell de Souza
Dr. Baiju Shah
Dr. Jennifer Price
Nousin Hussain
Amina Khan
Evelyn Ascencio
VOLUNTEERS
Ravnit Dhak
Erika Kouzoukas
Dr. Inderjit Bhatia
Kulsajan Bhatia
Harsimran Arora
Sahana Kesavarajah
Karthika Yogaratnam
Vaenthan Jeevarajah
BACKGROUND
Individuals originating from South
Asian countries (including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh) are at increased risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes compared to people from other parts of the world. Additionally, the risk for developing diabetes increases even more if there is family history of diabetes. This means that South Asian teenagers who have a family history of diabetes (for example, their parent or sibling has Type 2 Diabetes) are a high risk group.
Without proper management of risk factors (things that can increase/decrease risk) while they are young, these teenagers are more likely to grow up and also develop diabetes. The goal of the SAADAP is to teach South Asian teens with family history of diabetes everything they need to know about the disease so that they can build healthy habits as they get older and move into adulthood. We want to give these teens the tools and information they need to make healthy choices for a diabetes-free future.
South Asian Adolescent Diabetes Awareness Program (SAADAP)
STEERING COMMITTEE
Lalitha Bhagavatheeswaran
Mireille Landry
Erika Kouzoukaz
Kamna Mehra
Vanita Pais
Siva Swaminathan
Jovita Sundaramoorthy
Balneet Singh
Saeeda Irfan
Mokshi Virk
Priya Prabhakar
YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD
Ananya Kakkar
Kevin Virk
Sarojini Dharmaraj
Jhanvi Shah
Gurleen Ghotra
Kushmeet Grewal
Juhi Thakkar
Amaresh Bhaskaran
Isha Dalal
THIS PROJECT WAS FUNDED BY:
COMMUNITY PARTNERS:
