Changing a mother's diet to protect children's and grandchildren's heart health
Official title: Dietary interventions to modulate heart health in offspring born to diabetic mothers and the subsequent generation.
Funded at Sanford Research/usd · NIH-11260204 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether lowering a pregnant woman's dietary fat and related interventions can protect children and future grandchildren from heart damage linked to gestational diabetes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Sanford Research/usd NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Sioux Falls, United States) |
| Project start | January 15, 2022 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $415,000 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL160980-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11260204 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for future clinical work would be pregnant people with gestational diabetes or obesity who want to reduce their child's heart disease risk.
✕Less likely to help
People without diabetes or obesity during pregnancy, or those with genetic heart conditions unrelated to maternal nutrition, may not benefit from these findings.
What this research studies
Researchers use a rat model that mimics human gestational diabetes and high-fat pregnancy to see how maternal overnutrition harms the baby's heart. They focus on mitochondrial problems and oxidative DNA damage as key ways the heart is injured. The team will test whether reducing maternal dietary fat or related antioxidant strategies can prevent heart dysfunction at birth and later in life. They also check whether any benefits (or harms) carry forward into the next generation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to pregnancy diet recommendations or treatments that lower newborn and lifelong heart disease risk for children born to diabetic or obese mothers.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies have shown maternal diet affects offspring heart health, but clear evidence from human intervention trials is limited.
Where this research is happening
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Sanford Research/usd
Sioux Falls, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Baack, Michelle Leigh — Sanford Research/usd
- Study coordinator: Baack, Michelle Leigh
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.