Karen Mohlke, PhD, professor in the UNC Department of Genetics, is the contact PI for this five-year, $9.5 million multi-component research project co-op agreement (UM1) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD).
This UM1 award from NIDDKD includes funding for laboratories from UNC Chapel Hill (Mohlke – contact PI (Genetics) and Jimena Guidice – co-I (Cell Biol. & Physiol.), Broad Institute (Jose Florez – PI), Stanford University (Anna Gloyn – PI) and University of Michigan (Stephen Parker – PI). The project, titled “Bridging the Gap Between Type 2 Diabetes GWAS and Therapeutic Targets” proposes to identify the specific DNA variants, genes and mechanisms by which they influence risk of type 2 diabetes and its complications.
According to Dr. Mohlke, “We are excited to work with our consortium partners to identify the genes responsible for susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and disease complications. These discoveries will help inform potential targets for new drugs.”