The Kansas University Medical Center is seeking volunteers for an upcoming study to determine whether vitamin D can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

The multiyear study, which is the first large-scale clinical trial to investigate the link between vitamin D and type 2 diabetes, is being funded by the National Institutes of Health and taking place at about 20 sites across the country.

“People in the Kansas City region have an important opportunity to be part of a national effort to determine whether simple vitamin D might help address the public health crisis of diabetes,” said David Robbins, director of the KU Diabetes Institute and the study’s lead investigator.

The study, which will include about 2,500 people, aims to find if vitamin D (specifically D3) can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people age 30 or older who have prediabetes. Researchers speculate that 4,000 international units of vitamin D — the typical adult intake is 600-800 IUs a day — lowers the risk of diabetes by 25 percent. The trial, called D2d, will also investigate if gender, age and race affect the potential of vitamin D to reduce the chances of getting diabetes.

Half of the study’s participants will receive vitamin D while the rest will get a placebo. Neither the staff nor the participants will know who is receiving the placebo. The volunteers will then get two checkups a year. The trial is expected to continue for about four years, or until enough people have developed type 2 diabetes to make a scientifically valid comparison between the two groups.

To participate in the study, contact KU Medical Center at 913-588-6052 or d2dstudy@kumc.edu. More information about the effort can be found at www.D2dstudy.org.