Using genetics to identify causal cardiometabolic risk factors of COVID-19 severity and diabetes-related complications in COVID-19

What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes? This project aims to examine the relationship between diabetes genetics and life-threatening complications of COVID-19 illness. We seek to determine whether genetics can explain why some people with diabetes experience a more severe clinical course of COVID-19 than others. We hope that this project will identify diabetes-related risk factors for COVID-19. By identifying genes and biological pathways related to COVID-19 severity and diabetes-related complications, we may target them therapeutically to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 illness. If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond? By studying the genetics of people with diabetes and COVID-19, we may better identify people with diabetes who are more likely than others to suffer from diabetes-related complications during infection, keep their glucose levels stable, and reduce their risk of life-threatening complications of COVID-19. Why is it important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play in your research efforts? I am an endocrinologist. I treat patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. I have always wanted to do more for my patients and for people with diabetes around the world. My patients teach me about diabetes, which informs my research. Eventually, I hope to apply my research findings to the clinic. This award supports my overall research focus in the application of diabetes genetics to precision medicine and public health. In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going? In the future, we will see a greater focus on precision medicine in diabetes. The dream is to be able to tailor treatment options to each individual patient with diabetes so that their risk of diabetes-related complications and burden of managing this disease can be reduced.