The NICHD studies diabetes, including gestational diabetes, within the context of preventing and managing chronic disease and its long-term health effects, and of understanding the developmental origins of health and disease.
Some of the Institute’s diabetes research addresses these important goals:
- Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM):
- Investigating treatments that can prevent or slow the onset of T1DM in those at high risk for the condition, including infants at high genetic risk
- Testing non-invasive ways to monitor children with T1DM for episodes of hypoglycemia
- Investigating a combination insulin-delivery and glucose-sensing system that can mimic normal pancreatic beta-cell function
- Understanding the genetic risk factors that lead to T1DM and detecting the earliest gene-expression changes in those genetically at high risk for the condition
- Identifying determinants of health outcomes and testing the efficacy of behavioral intervention for youth with T1DM and their families
- Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM):
- Defining and reversing metabolic risk factors early in development that contribute to T2DM
- Identifying the genetic risk factors for T2DM and exploring treatments to prevent or stop its onset in those who are at high genetic risk
- Exploring the relationship between normal development, factors in the environment, and T2DM
- Understanding disparities in the prevalence and course of T2DM, its precursors, and its associated outcomes
- Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM):
- Understanding the mechanisms of GDM
- Defining treatments and management parameters that improve health outcomes for mother and baby
- Identifying biomarkers that might indicate GDM and complications such as preeclampsia
- Examining the health effects on the baby both in the short- and long-term
- Investigating ways to improve and manage delivery of macrosomic infants
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