Diabetes researchers are conducting a study to assess whether avoidance of cow milk protein by the use of a special infant supplement will decrease the risk of diabetes among babies who have a family member with type 1 diabetes.

The study is called TRIGR (pronounced “trigger”), an acronym for Trial to Reduce Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus in the Genetically at Risk. The UW principal investigator is Jerry Palmer, professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition.

The study will compare one group of babies who, in addition to breast-feeding, supplement with the study formula, Nutramigen, with another group of babies who supplement with a standard formula, Enfamil.

The researchers are enrolling pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, pregnant women whose baby’s father has type 1 diabetes, and pregnant women who have an older child with type 1 diabetes. If their newborns test to be at risk for developing type 1 diabetes, the infants may be entered into the study. Risk is determined by checking blood obtained at birth for genes associated with diabetes.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF), the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes, Novo Nordisk, the Netherlands Diabetes Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the European Union are funding the study.