Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Pittsburgh received a $159,000 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 May 1, 2026, with a completion date of April 30, 2028. This research initiative investigates the genetic basis of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) pathophysiology, specifically examining single nucleotide variation (SNV) regulation of wound re-epithelialization mechanisms in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) versus Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) patients. The research addresses a critical clinical gap, as patients with diabetes face a 25% lifetime risk of developing DFUs, with 14-24% requiring amputation, and T1D patients demonstrate significantly worse outcomes than T2D patients.

The funded research employs genome-wide genotyping analysis on quality-controlled data from 149 chronic wound patients with diabetes status, having identified 20,576 SNVs significantly associated with chronic wounds. Key deliverables include variant effect prediction analysis to identify causative mutations, meta-analysis intersecting wound-associated SNVs with over 270,000 genome-wide association study (GWAS) SNPs representing approximately 900 phenotypes from 2,500 studies, and enrichment analysis identifying obesity as the most significantly enriched phenotype associated with wound-related genetic variants. These research products advance understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying diabetic complications and establish a novel paradigm for wound healing research applicable to both T1D and T2D populations.