Study to Identify Cause of Type 1 Diabetes

United States. The Medical College of Georgia is among numerous sites chosen by the National Institutes of Health to examine the environmental risk factors that may lead to the cause of Type 1 diabetes. The primary study, called TEDDY - The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young, will investigate the environmental triggers of T1 diabetes which turn the body’s immune system on the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Last October, study sites began a four-year process to screen 220,800 healthy babies for genes that put them at risk for type 1 diabetes. They expect to identify the genes in about 13,000 babies, about half of whom will embark with their families on a 15-year journey that may help cure the disease.








Dr. Jin Xiong She, Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicne at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) initiated the conversation with other scientists years ago before making applications to the NIH for such a study. Now MCG is the lead site for seven hospitals including University Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta; Northside Hospital in Atlanta; and three hospitals in Gainesville, Fla. The other lead sites include Barbara Davis Center at the University of Colorado; Pacific Northwest Research Institute in Seattle; the University of Turku in Finland; Lund University in Sweden; and the Diabetes Research Institute in Munich, Germany.

TEDDY will follow children through the two age peaks for type 1 diabetes-- 2-4 and 12-15 and researchers will analyze everything from drinking water to nail clippings. The extensive data will be examined collectively and sorted taking regional variables into account.