Each year, 30,000 Americans – about half of them children – are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  With this diagnosis comes a lifetime of insulin dependency and potentially life-threatening health problems.

Dr. Jin-Xiong She is working to change that.

A Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar at the Medical College of Georgia, Dr. She is part of the largest, most comprehensive study of Type 1 diabetes to date – one that leading diabetes organizations hope may finally provide some answers about what causes the disease.

The TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) project will screen more than 200,000 newborns in four U.S. states and three other countries for a genetic predisposition for the disease.

Following this massive screening, researchers will then monitor more than 7,000 high-risk babies for a full 15 years. They’ll keep close tabs on as many factors as possible, from immunizations and illnesses to diet and drinking water. They believe the data from this study will give them vital clues to what environmental factors trigger the disease. With this knowledge, they hope to be able to point the way for high-risk individuals to decrease their risk of developing diabetes.

Because of Dr. She’s role in developing and conducting the study, Georgia babies are among those being screened and monitored. Georgia families will ultimately benefit from this because, Dr. She says, “the research done in Georgia will most likely show Georgia environmental triggers.”

Georgia is also benefiting from $4-8 million annually that Dr. She helps raise for MCG’s Center for Biotechnology and Genomics, which he directs. And $3.5 million in NIH grant funding supports Dr. She’s research each year. The state has the Georgia Research Alliance to thank for bringing Dr. She to MCG from his previous position at the University of Florida. “They played a major role in recruiting me,” he says. “Without them, I wouldn’t be in Georgia.”

People with Type 1 diabetes are at greater risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and blindness.  Even with proper treatment, their life spans are typically about 15 years shorter than average. And their numbers are growing.

But the work of GRA Eminent Scholar Jin-Xiong She may bring a new cause for hope.