Type 1 diabetes is a growing, world-wide health problem for which there is no known cure. This project is focused on understanding the root causes of Type 1 diabetes, in particular, the genetic basis, which makes people susceptible.
To date, the ability to understand Type 1 diabetes, or indeed, many other similar diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, has been hampered by our understanding of two variables: the genes contributing to the disease and the biological pathways which these genes control.
Ongoing research with rodent models of Type 1 diabetes have identified genetic regions involved in the early stages of Type 1 diabetes. The researchers believe that the genes involved in the disease pathways in rodents are likely to be similar in humans. Genes identified in the rodent studies will be used as candidate genes for study in humans with Type 1 diabetes.
The investigators are studying three well-characterized populations: 1) families from Newfoundland (where there is one of the highest rates of Type 1 diabetes in the world); 2) families of French origin in Quebec; and 3) families from a large North American clinical trial of Type 1 diabetics. This genome-wide integration of rodent and human Type 1 diabetes studies is aimed at identifying the genetic pathways that make people susceptible to this disease.
This project is a collaboration among the Hospital for Sick Children, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Science Centre, McGill University Health Centre (Montreal Children’s Hospital) and Memorial University of Newfoundland.