Hamilton-Williams Group - Type 1 diabetes pathogenesis and therapy
About
The main focus of our research is understanding the underlying causes of type 1 diabetes with a view to developing novel therapeutic approaches to treat or prevent disease. We have made important contributions to the understanding of how T cell tolerance is disturbed in type 1 diabetes and how environmental factors that may influence disease progression. Currently our lab focuses on three broad themes:
- The role of the gut microbiota as a potential risk factor for type 1 diabetes. We have pioneered the use of metaproteomics to understand host-microbiota interactions in type 1 diabetes. We are using this approach to uncover novel biomarkers associated with intestinal inflammation and disease progression in type 1 diabetes. We use network analysis to invesitagte how the gut microbiota, host and gut viruses interact before the onset of disease. We are studying cohorts of at-risk children to investigate which environmental factors linked to the gut may be precede the onset and predict future progression to type 1 diabetes.
- Gut microbiota targeted therapies for type 1 diabetes. We are investigating different nutritional supplements that can target the gut microbiota as potential therapies to prevent or improve disease management of type 1 diabetes. Using humanised models, we are investigating the specific gut bacteria and their metabolites that can reduce the autoreactive immune response and delay the development of diabetes.
- Antigen-specific immunotherapy to prevent or treat type 1 diabetes. Liposomes are a safe and tailorable vehicle to deliver immune-modulating drugs and antigen in order to induce tolerance in type-1-diabetes-specific T cells. Our current work is optimising this approach in order to maximise disease protection from our liposome-based immunotherapy. We have found that this approach is able to induce a regulatory immune response able to suppress islet-specific T cell responses and disease progression. This approach is being translated for human use with the first clinical trial planning in progress.
Our current research projects are:
- Environmental drivers leading to type 1 diabetes – this project investigates how the gut microbiota, gut metaproteome and gut virome interact during early life in those at risk of type 1 diabetes and whether this predicts the development of islet autoimmunity.
- Microbiota targeted dietary supplementation to prevent or treat type 1 diabetes. In collaboration with the ‘TOGeTHER’ trial consortium, we are investigating whether a dietary supplement that releases microbial metabolites is a potential therapy for type 1 diabetes.
- Development of an antigen-specific immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes. This project aims to optimise a liposome based therapy by understanding the immunological principles governing epitope selection and targeted delivery for tolerance induction.
Student projects
The Hamilton-Williams lab is looking for students interested in studying the gut microbiome in type 1 diabetes. This project will have a strong emphasis on bioinformatics based approaches and network analysis to understand disease predictors.
Our research is proudly supported by Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Diabetes Australia, Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia, CIA A/Prof Emma Hamilton-Williams. Influence of early life and maternal host-microbiota interactions on type 1 diabetes risk. 2021-2023 $432,502
NHMRC Ideas Grant (CIA A/Prof Emma Hamilton-Williams, CIB Prof Ranjeny Thomas, CIC Dr Mark Harris). Tolerising antigen-specific immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes. 2021-2023, $1,395,549
Children’s Hospital Foundation (PI Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams, Dr Mark Harris). A specialised dietary supplement for manipulating the gut microbiota to treat type 1 diabetes. 2020-2021: $300,000
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia (Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams, Prof Maria Craig, A/Prof Lutz Krause, Prof Jennifer Couper). Crosstalk between host and intestinal microorganisms in progression to islet autoimmunity. 2019-2021: US$900,000
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia (Dr Eliana Marino, Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams, Dr Kirstine Bell, Dr Sonia Saad). Specialized dietary intervention in human type 1 diabetes. 2018-2019, $350,000
- Diabetes Australia Millennium Award (Dr. Emma Hamilton-Williams). Oral liposomes for antigen-specific immunotherapy of type 1 diabetes. 2018-2019, $150,000
- Mary McConnel Award for Women in Paediatric Research, Children’s Hospital Foundation (Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams). Maintaining immune tolerance to prevent type 1 diabetes. 2018-2019: $50,000
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and The Helmsley Charitable Trust (Prof Ranjeny Thomas, Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams, Dr Mark Harris and Prof Hugh Reid) Preservation of pancreatic beta cells using antigen-specific tolerizing immunotherapy in children with type 1 diabetes. 2017-2020, US$1,276,000
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Career Development Award (PI Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams). A genetic link between gut microbial flora and T1D susceptibility. 2013-2019, US$750,0000
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Prof Ranjeny Thomas and Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams). Antigen-specific peptide immunotherapy targeting dendritic cells in type 1 diabetes. 2015-2017, US$500,000
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Microbiome consortium collaborative award (Dr Danny Zipris, Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams). Host-microbial interactions in the gut that precede development of type 1 diabetes. 2014-2016, US$500,000
- NHMRC Project Grant. Dr. E. Hamilton-Williams (CIA). A Novel Role for the IL-2 Pathway in type-1-diabetes. 2012-2016, $527,200
- Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Q&A "A Q&A with Dr. Emma Hamilton-Williams, an ENDIA Early-Mid Career Science Accelerator Award Recipient"
- 2021 UQ media release “Diabetes research challenging but paramount”
- Research highlighted by JDRF Australia blog post "Meet four of the researchers working to create a world without type 1 diabetes"
- Research highlighted by JDRF Australia newsletter "Top 10 T1D Research Breakthroughs of 2020"
- Research highlighted by JDRF Australia in blog post “T1D Research Roundup: 5 Biggest Research Advances From This Year’s ADA Meeting”. This article selected 5 talks from the major American Diabetes Association (ADA) conference they considered to be the most exciting breakthroughs. The ADA conference was attended by >12,000 delegates.
- 2019 Sunday Telegraph: ‘Meet the 10 medicine women who will save your life’ and an accompanying video article ‘Women leading the way in medical and science research’. Published 15 September 2019
- 2018 UQ Faculty of Medicine media article "Major grant awarded to UQDI diabetes researcher"
- 2018 UQ media release “Gut reaction linked to type 1 diabetes” on article published in Diabetes Care, JDRF-UK article, Diabetes Australia article, JDRF Australia Newsletter and blogpost and 5 other articles.