The O’Brien Lab is interested in the metabolic function and transcriptional regulation of the glucose-6-phosphatase gene family and especially how these genes contribute to various diseases including diabetes. There are 3 members of this family designated G6PC, G6PC2 and G6PC3. These genes all play a role determining fasting blood glucose levels, a parameter that is correlated with the risk of cardiovascular-associated mortality and type 2 diabetes. But they are also associated with specific diseases namely glycogen storage disease type 1a (G6PC), type 2 diabetes (G6PC2) and neutropenia (G6PC3).