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Project Sugar mission to survive Garvey's exit by Heather Murphy Public Relations Since 1996, Project Sugar has enrolled African American families into a study designed to establish a family registry and a DNA bank of Sea Island families with diabetes.  Timothy Garvey, M.D., professor of endocrinology, diabetes, and medical genetics stepped down as the principal investigator May 12, and has accepted a position as Department of Nutrition Sciences chair at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  But that doesn’t mean the end of Project Sugar. “Despite my departure, this project’s mission has not changed,” Garvey said. “We set out to identify genetic markers which may be responsible for the expression of obesity and diabetes in African Americans and those working with the project will continue towards that ultimate goal. And they will continue to raise diabetes and disease awareness in the community.” During Garvey’s tenure as principal investigator, an obesity susceptibility gene called UCP3, or Uncoupling Protein 3, was discovered and is only found in African Americans or Africans. “The discovery of UCP3 will help us better understand how environment and genetic predispositions interact,” Garvey said. “While this gene doesn’t determine an individual will be obese, if you pair it with a high fat diet, then obesity is more likely. It is an important discovery in terms of the obesity epidemic in this country. “Once the entire genome scan is completed for this study population, it will be possible to screen chromosomes for regions linked to obesity.” Jyotika Fernandes, M.D., clinical instructor of endocrinology, diabetes, and medical genetics will take Garvey’s place as principal investigator. Garvey will continue as an active co-investigator. Garvey described the project as a perfect example of science and community working hand in hand, as well as an opportunity for collaboration. Several other disciplines, including dental research, lupus research, and the EXPORT program with South Carolina State University are now working with the Sea Island Families Project. David McLean, a graduate student at MUSC working with Garvey, demonstrated that Lowcountry African Americans are the most genetically homogeneous in the United States, and are closely related to rice-cultivating tribes in West Africa.  As of this month, 1,146 people in 644 families have enrolled in Project Sugar. In connection with this project is GENNID, a national study sponsored by the American Diabetes Association aimed at understanding why Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult onset diabetes, runs in families. The two projects combined need a total of 400 affected sibling pairs with diabetes, and currently have 322.  “Sometimes our patients are unaware of their parents’ health history, or a local sibling wants to participate but the other affected sibling lives out of state,” said Ida Spruill, R.N., study coordinator. “It’s important that people at MUSC and out in the community are aware that although we’ve been around awhile, we still conduct research and will continue to do so.” “Ida and the other nurses are incredible advocates for the Sea Island community and others afflicted with diabetes,” Garvey said. “They are wonderful at health fairs and public screenings where they work one on one with community members to give referrals and information.” Spruill will take a brief hiatus from Project Sugar this summer due to her acceptance to the Summer Genetics Institute for 2003 sponsored by the National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Institutes of Health. The program is an eight-week research training course designed to provide foundation in molecular human genetics for biobehavioral research for nursing faculty, graduate students, and advance practitioner nurses.    Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.