Four Miller School students, among 13 from UM, will share $1,000 in seed money to aid the Commitments to Action project they developed as part of the Clinton Global Initiative University. The Global Initiative, featuring former President Clinton, brought hundreds of college students and leaders to the Coral Gables campus this past weekend.

With the grant Tasnim Imran and her team received, the medical students will work to improve the health of diabetic patients at a Miami Gardens area clinic, many of whom are poor and lack health insurance.

Imran and project team members Shekeab Jauhari, Yahya Mohammed, and Afra Ullah want to establish a diabetes self-management and patient education program at the Universal Heritage Institute Clinic, where diabetes is common.

"It'll be very interactive," Imran said at a pre-CGI U event held April 12 at the Storer Auditorium that featured President Donna E. Shalala. "We won't be giving them a lecture, but showing them how to manage their diabetes. We'll be showing them how to use the glucose meter, how to take their blood pressure. And they'll get follow-up exams.

"Many [of the diabetic patients at the clinic] don't understand the impact of the disease and how important it is to control their blood glucose levels," she continued. "If they don't properly manage their condition, it could lead to future health complications like blindness and cardiovascular disease."

In all, UM students have generated some 113 Commitments to Action. They range from eliminating poverty in Third World countries to producing biofuel to establishing a clinic in rural Jamaica to provide health screenings for hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.

The Office of the President, UM's Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership, and Florida Campus Compact, an organization of more than 50 college and university presidents, funded the grants.