01/27/2026
Obesity is prevalent in children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), making the management of T1D more challenging, and increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease.
In research to confirm the link between obesity in T1D and the gut microbiome (microorganisms that live in the gastrointestinal tract), the team is using a novel approach—transplanting human gut microbiota samples into mouse models—to target new therapies.
Obesity is prevalent in children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), with rates up to 46% in Hispanic and Latino youth. Excess body weight can affect the body’s response to insulin, which can make managing T1D more challenging. Being overweight or obese also puts these children and young adults at higher risk for cardiovascular disease at a much younger age.
Heba Ismail, MD, PhD, is a pediatric endocrinologist at Riley Children’s Health and associate professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. She is engaged in research to confirm the link between obesity in T1D and the gut microbiome. If her research concludes that microbiome composition is indeed causing or contributing to obesity in youth with T1D, Dr. Ismail is interested in identifying ways to optimize the gut microbiome so it’s more responsive to therapy.
“Even when using weight loss medications in youth with Type 1 diabetes, we see variable responses, and we believe this is related, at least to some degree, to the composition of the patient’s gut microbiome,” said Dr. Ismail. “This research is the first step toward identifying the causal relationship that will hopefully lead us to identifying specific targets for interventions and therapy.”
In her research funded by the Heartland Children’s Nutrition Collaborative, Dr. Ismail aims to better understand the role of the gut microbiome in the development of obesity in T1D. She is collaborating with Purdue University’s Lavanya Reddivari, PhD, and Tzu-Wen Cross, PhD, who are experts in the study of gut microbiota. For this research, the team will transplant gut microbiota from both lean and obese youth with T1D (obtained through stool samples) into germ-free mouse models to investigate body weight changes and alterations in the gut microbiome.
Dr. Ismail is one of the few researchers studying obesity in T1D. Her approach to investigating the condition—transplanting human gut microbiota samples into animal models—is novel.
“Obesity in Type 1 diabetes is a problem that’s often overlooked when managing youth and adults with this type of diabetes,” said Dr. Ismail. “Our research is exciting and offers a way to bring attention to this problem to see if we can find ways to address it through intestinal health.”
A Project of the Heartland Children’s Nutrition Collaborative
This work is made possible through a generous gift to the Riley Children’s Foundation from the Ricks Family Foundation, led by Riley physician Christina Ricks, MD, and her husband David A. Ricks. Their support fuels the Heartland Children’s Nutrition Collaborative—a joint effort between the IU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Purdue’s Department of Food Science—to uncover how early‑life nutrition can influence lifelong health outcomes.
