Night shift work and pregnancy-related diabetes risk
Official title: The role of night shift work in metabolic disorders during and after pregnancy
Funded at Mainehealth · NIH-11177652 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Seeing whether working night shifts raises the chance of gestational diabetes and later type 2 diabetes in women who were pregnant.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mainehealth NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Portland, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2017 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $266,774 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM121301-08 |
| Project ID | NIH-11177652 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women who worked night shifts during pregnancy or who have a history of gestational diabetes are the group most directly connected to this research.
✕Less likely to help
People who were never pregnant or never worked night shifts are unlikely to get direct benefit from this specific work.
What this research studies
Researchers will use long-term data from the nationwide Nurses' Health Study cohorts to link night-shift work history with gestational diabetes and later type 2 diabetes. They will combine questionnaire data on work schedules and health with medical outcomes recorded over many years. For a subgroup, stored blood and hair samples will be analyzed to look for biological signs of circadian disruption and metabolic changes. The goal is to learn whether timing of work and sleep around pregnancy affects later diabetes risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If the findings are clear, they could help identify women at higher risk and guide tailored pregnancy and postpartum advice to reduce later type 2 diabetes risk.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research has linked night shift work to higher type 2 diabetes risk, but studies on gestational diabetes are limited and have produced mixed results, so this analysis builds on but does not repeat an established finding.
Where this research is happening
-
Mainehealth
Portland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Agarwal, Isha — Mainehealth
- Study coordinator: Agarwal, Isha
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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.