Aetiology and Mechanisms of Diabetes and Related Metabolic Disorders of Later Life

研究表明，2型糖尿病是由遗传因素、肥胖和生活方式因素（如饮食行为和体育活动）之间的复杂相互作用引起的，但这些相互作用的详细机制尚未确定。我们的目标是研究这些因素之间的相互作用，使用一系列不同的流行病学研究设计，跨越世界各地的多项研究。我们的目标是确定与2型糖尿病风险相关的遗传变异和相关的代谢特征，这些特征可以确定新的疾病途径。这些途径的识别可以促进新疗法的发展，以帮助预防和治疗2型糖尿病。广泛的生活方式、行为、人体测量和生物学风险因素与未来2型糖尿病的风险相关。然而，在我们干预任何这些风险因素之前，重要的是要了解哪些是因果关系（即改变风险因素实际上会导致风险降低吗？）通过使用遗传学，我们可以优先考虑哪些风险因素最有可能是因果关系，从而确定哪些风险因素可能是最有效的干预措施。

It is suggested that type 2 diabetes arises from a complex interaction between genetic factors, obesity and lifestyle factors such as dietary behaviour and physical activity but the detailed mechanisms underlying these interactions have not been identified. We aim to study the interplay between these factors using a range of different epidemiological study designs across multiple studies around the world. We aim to identify genetic variants associated with risk of type 2 diabetes and related metabolic traits which can identify novel pathways to disease. Identification of these pathways can enable development of new therapies to help prevent and treat type 2 diabetes. A broad range of lifestyle, behavioural, anthropometric and biological risk factors are associated with future risk of type 2 diabetes. However, before we intervene on any of these risk factors, it is important to understand which ones are causal (i.e. would changing the risk factor actually result in reductions in risk?). Through the use of genetics, we can prioritise which of these risk factors is most likely to be causal and thereby define which risk factors are likely to be most fruitful for intervention.