This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. It is estimated that 2.8 million African Americans have diabetes, which represents approximately 13% of all African Americans. On average, an African American individual is twice as likely to have diabetes as a Caucasian American of the same age. What are the reasons for this disparity, and how can the epidemic be reversed? There is compelling evidence for a significant genetic contribution to diabetes risk. Our approach has been to identify African American families with type 2 diabetes so that we may uncover the key inherited factors that contribute to disease susceptibility. With a scan of the entire human genome recently completed in over 250 African American families with diabetes, we have found one region that appears to harbor a diabetes-susceptibility gene. We are now in a position to hone in on this region of chromosome 6. We will first investigate known genes that may be involved in diabetes, but will likely need to explore the region in depth to locate and identify a novel diabetogenic gene. To evaluate the influence of these genes and this region on diabetes risk, we are currently recuiting additional African American patients with diabetes and African American individuals from the population to act as controls. The identification of genes contributing to diabetes in the African American population will be the first step toward developing prevention strategies and designing novel therapies.