NIH Funds Research to See if Gut Microbiomes of Hispanics/Latinos Influence Their Diabetes Risk
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - 10:51
in Health & Medicine
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have received a five-year, $3.9 million National Institutes of Health grant to investigate the role of the gut microbiome in the development of type 2 diabetes among Hispanics/Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. Hispanics in the U.S. have a 66 percent higher rate of diabetes than non-Hispanic whites (11.8 percent versus 7.1 percent). Since therapies can alter the microbiome in the gut, the research could lead to strategies for preventing and treating diabetes. Einstein co-principal investigators on the grant are Robert C. Kaplan, Ph.D., and Robert D. Burk, M.D., Rob Knight, Ph.D. at University of California San Diego is also a co-principal investigator.