A new cross-institutional research study between The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas State University aims to better understand how diet, genetics and physical activity interact to influence diabetes risk. The study, which was recently awarded a Lone Star Collaborative Research Acceleration Pilot grant, could eventually inform more personalized nutrition guidance and future clinical trials.
Christiane Meireles, PhD, RD, LD, associate clinical professor at the School of Nursing, is a co-principal investigator of the study along with, Jie Zhu, MD, PhD, associate professor at Texas State University. Together, their teams will examine how dietary patterns, genetic risk, physical activity and other health factors interact to influence the development of Type 2 diabetes and the likelihood of preventing its onset on a U.S. Hispanic/Latino population.
“This sort of initiative is so important to grow research and combine resources, both the intellectual resources as well as all the resources that involve a project,” Meireles said. “We also have the opportunity to develop a pilot through secondary data analysis that can serve as the foundation for a larger research project, translating discoveries from the bench into clinical trials and ultimately applying these to larger populations.”
Combining strengths across institutions
The collaboration brings together complementary strengths from both institutions. Zhu, an epidemiologist, and his team, contribute expertise in the dataset, nutrition research and advanced statistical modeling, while Meireles brings the perspective of a clinical dietitian, along with the School of Nursing’s clinical experience, behavioral science expertise, patient-care focus and capacity to help translate findings into future clinical trials.
“This is a great opportunity to establish cross-institutional collaboration. From the research part to the clinical practice, this translational study contributes to the application of evidence-based information to future practice for prevention or management of diabetes,” Zhu said. “This project establishes joint collaboration for us to combine our strengths academically, build trust and make it sustainable regarding applying evidence-based information to guide practice in the clinical setting.”
Examining risk across diverse Latino populations
The study focuses on diabetes risk and prevention among Hispanic and Latino adults, a patient population that is disproportionately affected by diabetes. The study will use data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, the largest and most comprehensive long-term study of Hispanic and Latino health and disease available in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood institute.
“By using advanced statistical models, we will longitudinally analyze the data to establish associations, while also stratifying the data sets according to the risk factors identified in the model,” Zhu explained. “We want to see, among different ethnicities, whether some special diets may alleviate the genetic risk of diabetes, or whether some dietary patterns, such as ultra-processed food, can aggravate diabetes development when the individual has a higher risk of diabetes.”
The dataset is comprised of 13,000 participants from across different ethnicity groups among Hispanic and Latino participants, such as Mexican, South American and Puerto Rican groups, and includes 15 years of follow-up data, said Zhu.
“Everything interacts with each other, so you cannot just isolate the factors,” Meireles said. “The study examines the heterogeneity within the Latino population, recognizing that different subgroups may have distinct different genetic backgrounds and eating patterns that need to be considered. This project is important because it can help us to better understand how to approach specific populations, how we can better serve them to help avoid progression and preventing the development of more complex chronic diseases, and how this may inform and tailor different health policies in the future.”
Toward more personalized prevention
Together, the researchers said the pilot study is designed to build the preliminary evidence needed to pursue larger, federally funded research and eventually test targeted nutrition strategies in the communities most affected.
“Our next goal will be using the preliminary findings of this study to apply for federal grants, such as NIH and USDA, which now speaks highly of food as medicine,” Zhu said. “We want to use what we find through this observational study to design a future intervention study among the Hispanic population, especially among the large regional population in Texas.”
For Meireles, the project’s promise lies in its potential to move beyond broad prevention messages and toward guidance that reflects the genetic, dietary and behavioral factors shaping diabetes risk in specific communities. By combining population-level data with clinical and patient-centered expertise, the team hopes to lay the groundwork for approaches that can better prevent diabetes risk and improve long-term health among Hispanic and Latino adults in Texas and beyond.