Research Description
Heart disease is the main cause of death in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Current guidelines to predict heart disease were not created with type 1 diabetes in mind. Fat health (body mass index, fat distrinution, and fat hormones) seems to be a risk factor for heart disease in type 1 diabetes but little is known about the specific details of fat health in type 1 diabetes. This is a problem since many people with T1D also have obesity. Also, children with obesity and T1D or type 2 diabetes (T2D) have worse risk factors for heart disease, but those with T1D surprisingly have higher adiponectin, a fat hormone. This project will test which fat measures are linked to poor heart function in T1D and compare how these differ from T2D in teens and adults. It will also assess other markers in the blood that are related to fat to try and identify other risk factors and targets for treatment. In doing so, this project hopes to better understand the role of fat in heart disease risk in people with diabetes and how this changes by age and diabetes type.Research Profile
What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes?My project focuses on how fat accumulation and distribution is related to heart disease in people with type 1 diabetes. I hope to better understand the role of fat in heart disease risk in people with diabetes and how this changes by age and diabetes type. Through this understanding, we can tailor treatment to help prevent this common diabetes complication.
If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond?My project will better inform cardiovascular risk prediction based on your age and diabetes type. By understanding your risk, we can employ personalized measures early on in your diabetes diagnosis to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Why important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play?There is an increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity worldwide such that both conditions affect us all personally. As an endocrinologist who sees patients in a diabetes clinic, I also see patients who struggle every day with the burden of these diseases. Part of that struggle is that until now, research has been limited on how to personalize therapy to reduce cardiovascular risk, particularly for people with type 1 diabetes. This award allows me to investigate this area further to be better informed for my patients but also to prompt further studies in this area.
In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going?We are in a very exciting time in diabetes research. There have been several advances in prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications. I hope these advances continue as we harmonize separate data sets to ask questions that have never been able to be studied previously. The advances in ‘omics have made it such that we have more information on potential biomarkers and important pathways in disease progression. Additionally, this information will assist with the advancement of personalized medicine. Bioinformatics and artificial intelligence will further propel research forward by assisting with secondary data analysis for hypothesis-generation and to optimize future studies. I look forward to participating in research during this time and watching as further progress unfolds.