Early Career Spotlight: Swapnil Khare, MD

NEWS FROM ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM

Swapnil Khare, MD, is a clinician-scientist with certification in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. Her area of interest is diabetes, with special focus on care delivery systems.

“The field of endocrinology is thought-provoking, and continues to evolve with new understanding of disease process and treatment modalities,” Khare said.

Khare joined Indiana University in 2016 as Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and has worked closely with IU School of Medicine’s Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center. She received the prestigious ENVISION II grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Her efforts led to the establishment of a dedicated endocrine clinic for patients with cystic fibrosis, drastically reducing patients’ wait times.

“Interacting with patients, understanding their struggles, and developing tailored plans to help them excites me the most [about my work],” Khare said, particularly when she has the opportunity to innovate new systems.

As the inpatient diabetes director, she has tirelessly worked on improving diabetes care at the Adult Academic Health Center (AAHC). During COVID-19 pandemic, she started a pilot project for monitoring blood glucose using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), which meant nurses needed to enter patients’ rooms less frequently. This decreased their exposure to the virus, and helped conserve personal protective equipment.

Khare’s CGM project was so successful that she extended it to cystic fibrosis patients–and this was a “game-changer” for them, said Michael Econs, MD, director of the Division of Endocrinology.

“Dr. Khare is now working on getting this technology to other parts of our hospital. Her efforts have substantially improved our care,” he said.

Currently, Khare is working on the integration of Core Diabetes Application (CDA) at AAHC. CDA is a software which helps to standardize diabetes care, including insulin dose calculation and helps integrate diabetes management among care teams.

Khare is also excited to be a part of the Advanced Scholar Program for Internists in Research and Education (ASPIRE). As an ASPIRE scholar, she will spearhead a research project integrating CGM for diabetes care for patients during hospitalization.