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Type 2 diabetes mellitus, which represents the most common type of diabetes, is a major public health issue due to its high prevalence and the important impact of its long term complications. Despite the demonstration of a strong genetic component in this disease and the identification of genetic alterations responsible for deterioration of glycaemic control in subgroups of diabetic patients, the genes involved in the common forms of Type 2 diabetes remain unknown. Genetic studies in human populations are particularly difficult due to the complex pathogenesis of the disease, its late onset, the implication of both genetic susceptibility and environmental risk factors and the frequent association of other complex syndromes (essential hypertension, dyslipidemia and obesity) with Type 2 diabetes.

This situation makes the use of inbred models that spontaneously reproduce the main features of the disease an essential component of genetic investigations. Genetic investigations in models of spontaneous Type 2 diabetes aim to identify a collection of candidate genes and gene pathways that can be subsequently tested for linkage/association with the disease in family collections. Validation of candidate genes and candidate regions in human is performed in collaboration with members of European consortia.

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