One of the major questions we still don’t have an answer to is why some people who are genetically predisposed for development of T1D don’t progress and why others do. In addition, why there are different timings for the progression of this disease (i.e. why are some faster than others). Our thoughts are that these differences are due to differences in environmental experiences. It is important to note that we feel that these different environmental experiences can be big or small (i.e. living in different areas, eating different foods, or infection with different organisms). Thus, my laboratory studies the communication of the immune system with the environment at the largest environmental interface within our body, the gastrointestinal track. We feel that if we can understand the difference in this communication that occurs in T1D and how it shapes the immune system, we can not only figure out the initiating events of this disease process, but design better therapies and even preventive treatments to curb the disease process.