# Deep Learning Based Genetic Risk Prediction for Type 1 Diabetes

> **NIH NIH F30** · AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $41,590

## Abstract

Project Summary
Type I diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease of childhood caused by a combination of genetic and
environmental factors. In a subset of individuals with a genetic predisposition to T1D, environmental triggers
instigate an autoimmune response which targets and damages pancreatic islets, leading to pre-diabetes
and ultimately diabetes. A critical barrier in T1D prevention research is to identify and directly enroll children
with a strong genetic predisposition for developing T1D into prevention trials. A robust genetic risk score
(GRS) would allow for the identification of children at high-risk of T1D, their recruitment into T1D prevention
trials, and subsequent testing of novel interventions. I aim to 1) optimize a multi-layer feedforward neural
network genetic risk predictor that can be used to enroll newborns directly into T1D prevention trials; and 2)
identify putative, novel T1D-causing SNPs, and their interactions. Completion of aim 1 would provide a
better GRS to the T1D research community, which can be used to identify children with higher genetic risk
of T1D development, increasing the statistical power of future T1D prevention clinical trials. Completion of
aim 2 will provide a deeper biological understanding of the molecular drivers of T1D development, and
potential new therapeutic targets for T1D prevention trials. Successful completion of this project will both
help understand the genetic causes of type 1 diabetes and help prevent the disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10189573
- **Project number:** 5F30DK121461-03
- **Recipient organization:** AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul Tran
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $41,590
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-10 → 2022-07-09

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10189573

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10189573, Deep Learning Based Genetic Risk Prediction for Type 1 Diabetes (5F30DK121461-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10189573. Licensed CC0.

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