Professor honoured for research into pregnancy in diabetics

What significance does it have for a foetus that it is lying in the stomach of a mother with type 1 diabetes? What should pregnant women with type 1 diabetes be aware of during pregnancy? This is what Claus Højbjerg Gravholt studies in his research. The project has just received the HN Award from the Hede Nielsen Family Foundation.

"It's wonderful that the Hede Nielsen Family Foundation has noticed our research on their own initiative. We feel very honoured, of course," says Claus Højbjerg Gravholt.

In the project the researchers examine the importance of the foetal stage for the children of type 1 diabetics on all levels – clinical, epidemiological and genetic. Research has shown that the children of type 1 diabetics have an increased risk of illness and early death.

"We examine whether the increased risk could be due to the fact that the children of mothers with type 1 diabetes have an altered epigenetics after birth. An altered epigenetics means that these children have altered genes, while their DNA sequence remains unaltered," explains Claus Højbjerg Gravholt.

The researchers also examine whether women with type 1 diabetes who have children are healthier than female diabetics who do not have children.

"To begin with our research will benefit women with type 1 diabetes and their children, but in the longer term our research will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the significance of the foetal stage for the rest of our lives – not only for the children of type 1 diabetics, but for everyone," says Claus Højbjerg Gravholt. 

Further information

Clinical Professor, Consultant Claus Højbjerg Gravholt
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine
Direct tel.: (+45) 7845 5365
claus.gravholt@clin.au.dk