CIDR: Type 2 Diabetes_Starr County Health Study. Homo sapiens

An initial observation in the 1970s that Starr County, Texas, had the highest diabetes-specific mortality of any of the 254 Texas counties led to the establishment of a field office in Rio Grande City, Texas (the county seat of Starr County) and the initiation of a series of studies to understand the epidemiology and genetics of type 2 diabetes, its complications and related conditions in this predominantly (97%) Mexican American population. The field office opened in February 1981 and has operated continuously since then. During this time, three systematic surveys of the population have been conducted as well as family and longitudinal studies. Culturally sensitive diabetes education programs have been developed and implemented and also a weight loss intervention. In total, more than 23,000 Mexican American individuals have been examined with more than 200,000 aliquots of biological specimens stored. Collectively, these studies are known as the Starr... (for more see dbGaP study page.)