Cell-free DNA Methylation as a Biomarker of Pancreatic Beta-cell Death in Youth

This study proposes an innovative, non-invasive biomarker to measure one of the most critical elements of diabetes progression – beta cell death. By integrating epidemiology, pediatrics, and genetics, study investigators will examine the performance of the biomarker and its potential to detect the dynamics of beta cell death in children across the natural history of type 2 diabetes. The proposed biomarker overcomes past limitations in the measurement of pancreatic beta cell death, a measure generally unavailable in vivo, by applying a novel technique in epigenetics that fingerprints pancreatic beta cells.

Funded by Emory University's Woodruff Health Sciences Center