Federal Grant Award Summary

The Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope received a $2.16 million 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) for the period May 1, 2026, through April 30, 2029. The research project, titled "Circulating Extracellular Vesicles as a Marker of Human Type 1 Diabetes Pathogenesis," will investigate circulating extracellular vesicles (CEVs) as potential biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). The research team will identify distinct protein and RNA cargo present in CEVs at different stages of T1D disease development and examine the functional effects of these vesicles on immune cell and beta cell phenotypes.

To accomplish these objectives, the Institute will utilize longitudinal plasma samples from the Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study and will conduct proteomic and RNA sequencing analyses on isolated CEVs. The deliverables include isolation and characterization of CEVs from study participants, molecular profiling of extracellular vesicle cargo, functional assays assessing immune and beta cell responses, and identification of critical timepoints in disease progression preceding and following autoantibody appearance. These research products will contribute to understanding T1D pathogenesis and establish CEVs as clinical biomarkers for early disease detection in at-risk populations.