Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Southern California received a $845,922 Project Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), awarded March 1, 2026, with a completion date of January 31, 2031. The research investigates the role of gut-brain pathways in childhood obesity and youth-onset Type 2 Diabetes development through a longitudinal study leveraging the ongoing BRAINCHILD cohort. The project will deliver integrated neuroimaging analysis, gut hormone measurement (including glucagon-like peptide-1, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, peptide YY, and ghrelin), metabolic profiling, and comprehensive lifestyle assessments (diet, physical activity, and sleep) collected from children ages 7 to 16 years.

The research will produce three primary deliverables: (1) analysis of relationships between gut hormone secretion, neural appetite regulation, and metabolic outcomes; (2) assessment of how prenatal gestational diabetes mellitus and maternal obesity exposure affect gut-brain signaling and metabolic risk; and (3) evaluation of how modifiable lifestyle factors influence gut hormone secretion, brain function, and metabolic outcomes. This project contributes to NIDDK's mission to advance understanding of disease mechanisms underlying diabetes and metabolic disorders through basic and clinical biomedical research conducted at USC's Los Angeles facility.