ENDIA

Australia's largest study into the cause of type 1 diabetes. Recruitment to the study is now complete. Find out more at www.endia.org.au and Harry B.

Recruitment to the ENDIA Study has closed. The ENDIA (Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity) study is looking into what contributes to the development of Type 1 Diabetes in early childhood. Type 1 Diabetes in children is twice as common as it was 20 years ago. This is because our environment has changed and at-risk children are more likely to develop Type 1 Diabetes. If we can understand exactly what in the environment is harmful or protective, we can develop strategies to prevent Type 1 Diabetes. We believe that children are exposed to these environmental triggers very early in life, perhaps even before they are born. Accordingly, the ENDIA study has recruited 1511 participants across Australia from the pregnancy or up to 6 months of age that have a first-degree relative (i.e. baby's Mum, Dad or older sibling) with Type 1 Diabetes. ENDIA is an observational investigation and does not involve any study medications or treatments. Further information is available on the ENDIA website at www.endia.org.au. This research has been supported by JDRF Australia, JDRF-I, Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative in Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes and the Leona M. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Please note, comments and opinions made by others are not necessarily endorsed by the ENDIA Study Team. All content posted by the ENDIA Team has had ethical approval for public view. Thanks for your interest in finding the causes of Type 1 Diabetes!

24/01/2026

🔬✨ School Holiday Lab Visitors! ✨🔬

ENDIANs Grace and Michael dropped by the research lab today to deliver their samples and hang out with scientist, Emily!

Nothing says school holidays quite like a brother-sister lab adventure. 🧪👫 From curious questions to behind-the-scenes science, these two made Emily's day extra special.

Thanks for being such awesome ENDIA participants, Grace and Michael! Keep being champions of research! 💙

If you have an ENDIA visit coming up, and haven't been to the lab before, ask your coordinator before your next visit if it might be possible for your ENDIAN to become an honorary scientist for the day.

21/01/2026

This week we acknowledge the completion of the ENDIA study by Sia from

Congratulations, Sia, on putting up with 10 years of , providing , 💩, and swab samples, and filling in (well thanks to mum for those especially)!

And happy 10th birthday you ! We can’t thank you enough for all your very special contributions to our research. With your help we hope to be able to find the causes of type 1 diabetes so we can prevent it in future generations.

We recommend all our graduating ENDIANS continue less intensive and through Type1Screen. Although the risk of developing reduces over time, it doesn’t completely go away. Especially if you have EVER had an , even if it has gone away, it is worth considering checking every so often through . More information is available on their website: www.type1screen.org or their social media pages .

18/01/2026

🔬 New insights into early type 1 diabetes detection from ENDIA! 🔬

What are islet autoantibodies? Before develops, the immune system mistakenly attacks insulin-producing cells. This creates - proteins we can detect in blood tests that signal diabetes risk.

In this paper, we outline the follow-up of 1,473 children (who have family members with ) for 7+ years, testing their blood every 3-6 months to track these early warning signs.

🔍 Key findings about ZnT8 autoantibodies (one specific antibbody type):
✅ ZnT8 autoantibodies were the first warning sign in 25% of children who developed them
✅ When ZnT8 autoantibodies appeared alone (without other antibodies), they usually showed up after age 5 years
⚠️ Important discovery: ZnT8 autoantibodies by themselves seem to carry very low risk of developing T1D
👶 Bonus finding: Autoantibodies are transferred to babies through the placenta. Although they can last up to 1.5 years, this doesn't increase the child's risk of diabetes.
💡 Why this matters: This helps us better understand which early warning signs are most concerning and could improve how we predict and monitor T1D risk in families.

Read more at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-025-06591-4

15/01/2026

Proud to share Dr Maddy presenting in , Canada, at the prestigious International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes ( ) meeting. Our research tracking ENDIA babies from birth revealed surprising early changes in pancreas function.

We found that infants who eventually developed had lower levels of digestive enzymes in their first 6 months of life compared to other babies. These enzymes (measured through stool 💩samples) indicate how well the helps digest food.

Maddy and the team expected pancreas function to decline after the immune system started attacking insulin-producing (beta) cells. Instead, we found differences existed from the very beginning—even before any immune problems appeared.

This early "signature" could help identify which are most likely to develop , potentially years before appear. This could improve early strategies. All children maintained normal digestive function throughout childhood despite these differences.

Keep following us here for more ENDIA updates!

12/01/2026

Woo Woo! Welcome aboard the ENDIA Team train to Stacey Findlay! Stacey is ENDIA’s new coeliac nurse helping our research coordinators with all the data and samples specific to antibodies (CA) and (CD).

CD and (T1D) are both autoimmune conditions where, for some reason, the body attacks healthy cells (small intestine and pancreatic cells respectively). Both conditions share a common genetic background linked to the human leukocyte antigen ( ) genotype. Approximately 95% of individuals with and nearly 99% of those with CD carry the genes DQ2 and DQ8. Reassuringly, most people with these high-risk genes do not develop T1D or coeliac disease.

That said, a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted in 2014 (https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.12973) found more than one in twenty people with have coeliac disease. This prevalence is high enough to also for coeliac disease among those at risk of, or living with, type 1 diabetes. Asymptomatic coeliac antibodies can often be detected in those with type 1 diabetes, and vice versa.

This is why ENDIA also tests for . We are also seeking an additional sample of intestinal cells collected during a routine diagnostic biopsy by a gastroenterologist. The sample collected during diagnostic biopsy for ENDIA is precious because no one has collected this sample for research before! So, if your child is recommended a diagnostic , please consider consenting to the additional cell collection for ENDIA. It’s effectively one additional swipe of five already collected to make the diagnosis.

For more information or questions about our , speak with your coordinator, or contact Stacey or Jayne via endiacoeliac@wehi.edu.au

09/01/2026

🦠 Fascinating new research on gut health in Australian infants

A study published in "Nature Communications" compared the gut microbiomes of 50 Indigenous infants from Elcho Island (Galiwin'ku) in remote with non-Indigenous infants participating in the ENDIA Study.

The key finding? Indigenous had significantly richer and more diverse —the kind typically found in traditional societies but increasingly rare in modern, industrialised populations.

What's driving these differences? It's not antibiotics, birth method, or when solid foods are introduced. Instead, our researchers believe it comes down to and : traditional diet, close contact with land and animals, living in natural surroundings, and the way mothers pass beneficial microbes to their babies through birth and .

Indigenous infants also had higher levels of beneficial that thrive on , reflecting high rates of exclusive breastfeeding in these communities.

Why does this matter? This research captures an "ancestral" gut that hasn't been strongly shaped by Western lifestyles—offering important insights into how environment influences and potentially long-term outcomes.

It's a valuable reminder that modern living may have changed our internal ecosystems in ways we're only beginning to understand.

Read more: https://rdcu.be/eUFdK

06/01/2026

Hello!

My name is Addison. I am 6 years old. I am an ENDIAN.

This is me with my ENDIA bag.

I live in the ACT, but sometimes my mum and dad drive me all the way to visit Rose at The Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. It's a long drive!

My big brother, Finnley, was also an ENDIAN but he's 10 years old and finished now.

03/01/2026

Representing ENDIA Study’s Quality Control Team, Dr Dao Huynh and Trung Nguyen attended the 22nd Australasian Biospecimen Network Association (ABNA) Annual Conference in . Both had posters accepted for presentation.

Thanks to our amazing ENDIA families, donated blood samples are helping around the world improve how we study and understand 💙

🧬 Our team analysed 500+ samples to learn what affects cell quality after freezing. We even built a free online tool that helps check and predict sample health 👉 https://endia-pbmc-prediction-tool.shinyapps.io/app_folder/

🌏 ENDIA’s labs also take part in a global biobank quality program with the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg — and for five years in a row, our samples earned a “Very Satisfactory” rating — showing excellent cell quality and performance that match top international standards. This program has helped ensure ENDIA’s samples remain reliable, consistent, and ready for high-impact research worldwide. 🎉

💡 What this means: ENDIA families' continued involvement is helping create some of the world’s best-quality research samples — supporting discoveries in type 1 diabetes for families everywhere.

Great work Dao and Trung! And great work ENDIA families!

💙

31/12/2025

💙 How might a mother’s type 1 diabetes help protect her child?

Researchers have discovered new clues about why born to mothers with have a lower chance of developing themselves.

In a large study of over 1,700 children, researchers found subtle differences in methylation — tiny chemical changes that can switch genes on or off — in children of mothers with during . These differences appeared in related to immune function and known risk genes.

Even more fascinating, these methylation patterns could help predict which children might later develop early markers of diabetes ( ).

✨ What it means: Environmental factors — like exposure to in the womb — may shape how genes involved in diabetes risk are expressed, offering important clues for and early intervention.

This open access article in "Nature Metabolism" is online at https://rdcu.be/eO5K1

28/12/2025

The Ambrose family visited us from again for the ENDIA study.

This coincided with Hugh’s final ENDIA visit and sister, Fleur’s 18th study visit.

The family brought SA regional program nurse, Sarah, presents of a Tassie calendar and chocolate. A very generous gift and a pleasant surprise.

Thanks for the gifts, but more, thanks for everything you have contributed to research.

We couldn’t find without your valuable samples and information.

Address

Women's And Children's Hospital
Adelaide, SA
5006

Website

http://www.endia.org.au/

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