Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is a global health problem. Today, 415 million people live with diabetes worldwide. The problem of diabetes in Russia and Estonia is particularly acute and the increasing prevalence of T2D has become a major health challenge. It is known that T2D can seriously impair overall quality of life and may lead to a long list of complications, including heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. It can also result in lower life expectancy by 5-10 years. Moreover, diabetes imposes a large economic burden on the national healthcare. Healthcare expenditures on diabetes account for 11.6% of the total healthcare expenditure in the world. Additionally the largest economic burden caused by diabetes is the monetary value associated with disability and loss of life as a result of the disease itself and its related complications, including heart, kidney, eye and foot disease. Early identification of individuals at high T2D risk enables delay or prevention of T2D onset through effective lifestyle and/or pharmacological interventions, and has been shown to reduce costs of healthcare. Our understanding of T2D pathobiology has improved dramatically and genetic high-resolution technologies allowed the identification of genetic markers that increase the risk of T2D in different populations. Recent studies have identified more than 80 susceptibility genetic markers that may serve as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of T2D. Biomarkers may help to determine individual risk and to predict the disease complications. To date, Russia is very backward in research of genetics of T2D and no genome-wide data of factors, predisposing to T2D for Russian population is available at present. Moreover, despite the large number of studies of diabetes in the world, no specific diabetes risk panels of genetic markers or effective prevention approaches using genetic markers that could be used in clinical practice for the prediction of T2D have yet been proposed in Estonia and Russia. Additional problem is the rather limited knowledge of endocrinologists in Estonia and Russia on genetic risk factors of T2D and the inability to use it in diagnosis and prevention of disease. The overall objective of this project is to improve the quality of diagnosis and prevention of T2D by developing of effective T2D prediction measures within the framework of partnership between Estonia and Russia (including elaborating of approaches for T2D risk identification, implementation of these approaches in the clinical practice, education). More specifically the project will address the following specific objectives: 1) To carry out research for identifying the genetic risk markers of T2D specific to the Russian population; 2) To develop a polygenic risk score model of T2D and genetic testing panel of T2D specific to the Russian population 3) To raise awareness on involvement of genetic factors of T2D and the possibility of using this knowledge in clinical practice for diagnosis and prevention of T2D in Russia and Estonia The project will contribute to make an exchange of experience and knowledge about T2D and to establish an effective cooperation between two countries. This project is aimed to carry out a deep scientific research using the potential of the major Universities of Estonia and Russia and to elaborate the reliable methods for medical clinics. Moreover the project will ensure improving quality of knowledge about genetic risk markers of disease for clinicians through training seminars, lectures and publishing methodological literature.