Project: Omics Approach for Personalized Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus for African and European Populations

Acronym	OPTIMA (Reference Number: ERAPERMED2022-209)
Duration	01/05/2023 - 30/04/2026
Project Topic	The global prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing, with sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) having the highest projected relative rates of increase in both impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and T2D, collectively termed dysglycaemia. Notably, the pathophysiology of T2D differs by ethnicity and sex, but risk stratification and guidelines for the prevention of T2D are generic and rely on evidence from studies including predominately Europeans. Accordingly, the overarching goal of this primary precision prevention project is to develop ethnic- and sex-specific clinically feasible and cost-effective algorithms for the early prediction of dysglycaemia to inform culturally acceptable preventative dietary modifications in European and SSA populations. This transnational collaboration between Sweden, Germany and South Africa enables the sharing and harmonisation of prospective cohort data from two African cohorts (South African and Ghanaian adults from the MASC and RODAM cohorts, respectively) and a European (Swedish adults from the SCAPIS cohort) cohort. The study uniquely combines proteomics and metabolomics to identify known and novel ethnic- and sex-specific biomarkers that will not only provide pathophysiological insights into dysglycaemia in different populations, but also improve early prediction of dysglycaemia in European and African populations. We will also identify objective biomarkers reflecting differences in diet that relate to risk of dysglycaemia across European and African populations, which will be used to inform targeted dietary modifications for primary prevention of T2D in the different populations. The cost effectiveness of the targeted dietary modifications, as well as the perceptions among target populations regarding these early preventative strategies will be assessed in the respective countries (South Africa, Ghana, Germany, Sweden) to inform future implementation of personalised prevention strategies.
Network	ERA PerMed
Call	5th Joint Transnational Call for Proposals (2022)

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd	Coordinator	South Africa
2	Chalmers University of Technology	Partner	Sweden
3	Heidelberg University, Medical Faculty and University Hospital	Partner	Germany
4	Umeå University	Partner	Sweden