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GENNID hopes to find gene that causes diabetes in families by Caroline Davila Public Relations MUSC’s project Sea Island Genetic African American Family Registry (SuGAR) has launched a new study, which will bring scientists closer to being able to cure or prevent diabetes.   This new study is called The Genetics of Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes (GENNID). The goal of the study is to come closer to finding the genes that cause diabetes to run in families. To do this, Project SuGAR needs to find 125 families with at least one pair of brothers/sisters who have type 2 diabetes.   Diabetes is a familiar disease in South Carolina, especially in the African American population. In type 2, which represents 9 out of 10 cases of the disease, the body does not respond properly to the insulin it produces. It can lead to kidney failure, blindness, and the amputation of limbs and eventually death: about 6 percent of the population of South Carolina has diabetes and more than 3,000 diabetes-related deaths occur yearly   “In many cases, it can be controlled through lifestyle change,” said Ida Spruill, study coordinator and project manager. Spruill has successfully established a partnership with the sea island communities. As a registered nurse, she can easily identify high-risk patients and her social worker skills enable her  to promote preventive health. Her enthusiasm is reflected in the success of this program. Initiated in April 1996 as a three year study, Project SuGAR is now an on-going program,  “it’s an old project with a new thrust. We have reached our primary goal,” she said. “We needed to find 400 African American families born and raised on the sea islands. Now we are going to make fresh contacts as well as go back and re-contact some of these families and see if they are interested in participating in the next study. This will narrow down the search for that exact gene.”   The GENNID study covers all ethnic backgrounds and Spruill expects success. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) funds this study and has also designated MUSC as one of its’ 20 study centers throughout the country. “Project SuGAR has a life of its own” Spruill said.  “We built a good rapport with the participants of our earlier study; this has resulted in a positive response to requests for participation in GENNID.”   “We are a community based, community oriented organization. Our nurses are from the community. They are helpful and sympathetic to the participants needs and worries,” Spruill said. “They provide them with education about their disease and make the appropriate referral. People saw that and appreciated that.” Spruill has run the project with a human touch and participants realize that they are more than just a living laboratory-more than just an organism that provides the researchers with numbers. Look for the Project SuGAR table at these events: Moja Festival—Sept. 25 Gopher Hill Parade—Oct. 2 East-side Octoberfest—Oct. 23 This finger stick may save your life.