Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young

Children determined to be at an increased risk for development of type 1 diabetes (T1D), either due to known genetic markers or due to family history of T1D, are followed from birth and monitored on an annual basis for development of T1D-related autoimmunity. At annual clinic visits, participants are tested for development of these autoantibodies and data are collected related to environmental exposures. In addition to blood collection for determination of autoantibodies, serum and plasma are frozen and stored for future analyses, along with other biological samples such as throat swabs, rectal swabs, saliva, and urine. If T1D-related autoantibodies are detected, the participant is asked to increase the frequency of clinic visits to 2-4 visits per year in order to monitor for the onset of disease more closely. The endpoint of the study is diagnosis of T1D per the American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria.