Each year, Diabetes Research WA funds innovative projects that help unravel the complex puzzle of diabetes. One such project, the recipient of our 2025 Diabetes Research WA Project Grant, is already delivering promising early insights.

Led by researchers at The University of Western Australia, the study is examining how a condition known as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), where a baby doesn’t grow to a typical weight during pregnancy, might lead to a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. While the long-term health effects of IUGR have been observed, the biological mechanisms linking it to diabetes have remained largely unexplained.

That is where this research comes in. The team is specifically investigating how IUGR affects skeletal muscle, one of the body’s key sites for using and storing glucose.

Progress to date

So far, their preliminary data is showing that IUGR appears to alter levels of certain proteins involved in insulin and glucose metabolism. This could mean that individuals born with IUGR are predisposed to develop metabolic disorders such as diabetes.

Next steps

The researchers are now continuing with in-depth lab experiments to further explore these protein changes. This includes identifying muscle fibre types and conducting glycogen assays, which are tests that measure how muscles store glucose. The hope is to build a detailed picture of how IUGR rewires muscle biology in a way that may increase the risk of diabetes later on.

These findings will form a critical piece of the puzzle in understanding metabolic syndrome and could one day help identify those at risk much earlier, possibly even before diabetes develops.

This progress is only possible thanks to your support. By funding this kind of forward-thinking research, you are helping uncover new ways to detect, prevent and eventually treat diabetes.

Together, we are making strides towards a healthier future.