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Please join us for the Wright Center Visiting Scholar Seminar Series featuring Dr. Maurice Fluitt from Howard University. Dr. Fluitt will present on his current research (see below). We look forward to seeing you there. Abstract The prevalence of diabetes mellitus has increased at an alarming rate around the world. In the United States, more than 30.3 million Americans have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for most diabetic cases and disproportionately affects minority communities. T2DM is a major risk factor for severe long-term macro- and micro-vascular complications, including diabetic kidney disease (DKD). DKD is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease (accounting for 30-50% of disease) in the United States. Early DKD is asymptomatic and can go unrecognized. Early intervention and treatment of DKD, via control of blood pressure and blood glucose, decelerates the pathological decline in kidney function but does not normalize it back to that of non-diabetic subjects. Thus, there is a need to identify early non-invasive markers and mediators of disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play critical roles in the regulation of gene expression. Disease-specific miRNA-signatures in circulation, tissues, or in microvesicles (i.e., exosomes) have been successfully deployed as biomarkers and potential mediators of several diseases, including Hepatitis C, various cancers, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This talk will discuss the evolving role of miRNAs as both early biomarkers and mediators of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its microvascular complications (i.e., diabetic kidney disease).