Assistant Professor of Biology Emrah Altindis felt incredibly grateful for the members of his lab when he found out he had been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to study viral insulins and their cancer implications.

The Beatson Foundation awarded assistant professor of biology Emrah Altindis a two-year, $275,000 grant to support his lab’s research on how gut microbes affect Type 1 diabetes. The grant is only awarded to five U.S. research teams each year.

There are more than 35 million people in the United States with diabetes, according to Boston College Assistant Professor of Biology Emrah Altindis. While genetics contribute to the disease, Altindis said they alone cannot explain the increasing diabetes rates in the country.