Abha Choudhary, MD, is a Pediatric Endocrinologist and Director of the Pediatric Diabetes Program at Children’s Health and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Additionally, Dr. Choudhary serves as the Medical Director of the Children’s Health Plano Diabetes Program and as a Principal and Co-investigator of multiple type 1 diabetes-related research studies. 

 

Interview with Abha Choudhary, MD 

In this interview, Dr. Choudhary discusses her involvement with the T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative (T1DX-QI) and her life and career as a clinical diabetologist and research scientist. 

The T1DX-QI was established in 2016, with the support of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, to refine best practices and improve the quality of care and outcomes for individuals living with T1D. Growth has been tremendous, with over 60 endocrine clinics across the US participating in the Collaborative.   

Fueled by top diabetes care leaders, the T1DX-QI has become an engine of innovation and inspiration. Clinics have seen unprecedented success in their approach to diabetes management by engaging with shared, data-driven, and systematic methods.  

With members working closely to identify gaps in care, discover and refine best practices, and share research, the process has become knowledge-sharing at its very best. While collated data gives clinics a clear sense of “where they are,” it also demonstrates “where they can be” by applying shared, evidence-based methods for improving care. 

  

What was your path into medicine and endocrinology? 

“When I was about five years old, I started writing prescriptions for my family members — I’d take a piece of paper, scribble something on it, and hand it out,” Dr. Choudhary recalled with a smile. “Ever since then, I knew ‘this is what I wanted to do.’” 

“I’ve always had an interest in endocrinology,” said Dr. Choudhary, who was raised and attended medical school in India. “But there weren’t pediatric endocrinology specialists, as we have now, so kids with endocrine conditions were seen in general pediatric clinics.”  

“When I moved to the US, I saw there were specialists for these conditions, and this inspired me.” During her residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she began seeing patients with T1D and found the complexities of the condition intriguing. 

Following her residency, she completed her pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Cornell and is a first-generation physician who is American board-certified in pediatric endocrinology. 

 

What do you like best about what you do? 

“I love the field of diabetes. It’s ever evolving, and there have been so many exciting changes — especially over the past two years.” 

Recent developments have stoked her passion for advancing research to treat, delay, and prevent T1D. Thanks to her scientific involvement and advocacy, Tzield is available at select diabetes centers in the US, including Children’s Health, to delay the onset of Stage 3 T1D.  

“There are so many options right now, and families have been so grateful,” said Dr. Choudhary. “If there’s something new, we push hard to make sure our patients have access to it.” Even after T1D diagnosis, studies are underway to prolong the honeymoon phase in Stage 3 T1D to reduce the need for insulin and improve glucose control. 

 

Let’s talk about your current research   

“The first study is the High-Amylose Maize Starch, or “HAM” study, which is looking at improving insulin production and blood glucose levels in children ages 11 to 17, who have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the prior two years.”  

She explained that high-amylose maize starch is a probiotic. By altering the gut microbiome, HAMS may increase bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids, resulting in an anti-inflammatory effect and improvements in glucose, insulin sensitivity, and insulin production.

Dr. Choudhary, who is a co-PI for several TrialNet studies, explained that Children’s Health is a TrialNet site that facilitates research participant recruitment for investigations, including the JAKPOT, T1D RELAY, and Frexalimab studies, to assess the potential for beta cell preservation by calming the immune system attack on pancreatic beta cells in those newly diagnosed with Stage 3 T1D.  

Dr. Choudhary was a Co-investigator in the Tzield® clinical trial assessing its efficacy and safety, and is also part of the Tzield registry. She established the Children’s Health Tzield program about six months after it received FDA approval and has been doing Tzield infusions for kids in Stage 2 T1D ever since. 

On the heels of this, she started a screening program for early-stage diabetes at Children’s Health. The program brings siblings into the clinic for free TrialNet screening, in addition to pediatrician referrals for children with elevated A1Cs and positive autoantibodies. “We currently have three patients who have received Tzield, with a fourth being scheduled, two more being worked up, and a few that have declined its use,” she said. 

 

Children’s Health and the T1DX-QI 

“Participating in the T1DX-QI has been life-changing for us,” said Dr. Choudhary, who has served as the site PI for the T1DX-QI at Children’s Health since 2023. “We were living in our own bubble in Dallas, Texas, until Dr. Todd Alonso introduced us to T1D Exchange.” 

“T1DX-QI helped me to realize we all have similar struggles and want to improve A1Cs, reduce hospital admissions, and make sure our patients get access to technology and automated insulin delivery devices.” 

“It’s so inspiring to see what other experts in the field are doing, because again, we all have the same goal — to improve outcomes,” she said. “Since Children’s Health joined, I’ve gravitated towards innovations in type 1 diabetes — whether it’s something that’s FDA approved or research related.” 

“We’ll be participating in two T1DX-QI special projects. The first is a Hopkins-led Best Practice Advisory to reduce diabetes technology-related disparities. We’ll be one of six sites participating in this study. The second is the Stanford 4T Study that will introduce CGMs and remote patient monitoring to new-onset patients with T1D.”      

“We’re also wrapping up our first QI project, which involved setting up CGM sharing. While 90% of our patients are on continuous glucose monitors, only about 50% were sharing glucose data with us. Our goal was that once they started, we would have access to it on a remote patient monitoring platform and help them adjust insulin doses between visits.” 

The remote patient platform was launched in August 2024, allowing the diabetes care team to pull CGM data. This way, the diabetes educators can target which patients need help on a given day and reach out to them.  

In 2019, Dr. Choudhary set up an after-hours nursing call program for what the practice lovingly refers to as “Mommy calls” or calls for management needs of ketones, high or low glucose, and pump failures. “We have about 40 nurses trained in triage and management protocols for our kids with type 1 diabetes, and they have been amazing partners for six years now.”  

“We’re also in the process of setting up a high-risk program, inspired by the various T1DX-QI sites, so we’ll leverage our remote patient monitoring platform for that group of patients as well,” said Dr. Choudhary, who is also in a Healthcare Transition Group, working on improving the transition of care experience from pediatric to adult endocrine providers.  

 

What’s your hope for the future?

“I want to improve patient outcomes at Children’s Health,” said Dr. Choudhary, who explained that more learning and change are on the horizon, spurred by her T1DX-QI involvement and those who serve as “aspirational peers.” 

“We’re in a great place, I feel privileged to be a part of the Collaborative, and I’d like to be involved in many more QI efforts to improve outcomes in our patients.” 

 

What do you like to do outside of work?

Outside of work, Dr. Choudhary enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends.