Bio

Juan Alvarez is a HIRN Emerging Leader Award Recipient and an Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research focuses on human stem cell-derived pancreatic islet organoids and mice as model systems to study islet development, physiology, and pathology, and to develop replacement therapies for insulin-dependent diabetes. We focus on the interplay between circadian rhythms, metabolism, and islet cell maturation.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator-profile-juan-r-alvarez

Projects

• Measuring Islet-wide Function with Soft Integrated Nanoelectronics

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=juan+alvarez

Bio

Rafael Arrojo e Drigo is a Gateway Award Recipient and co-Investigator on a HPAC Grant. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms regulating post-mitotic cell homeostasis and longevity.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator-profile-rafael-arrojo-e-drigo?hilite=%27rafael%27

Projects

• Mapping the Association of Beta Cell Longevity and Senescence in T1D
• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Rafael+Arrojo+e+Drigo

Projects

• A microwell perfusion plate for manufacturing and testing Islet-like clusters

Projects

• Identification of Novel Regulatory Mechanisms Driving Human Beta-Cell Maturation and Function

Projects

• Positron emission tomography to characterize beta cell mass in individuals from multiple stages in the progression of type 1 diabetes

Projects

• GABP is a novel regulator of beta cell metabolism and proliferation

Bio

Jing Liu is a Gateway Award Recipient and an Assistant Professor of Physics in the Department of Science at the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis School of Science. His lab focuses on the development of cutting-edge imaging methods and computational image processing/analysis algorithms to quantitatively interpret the complexity of images.

Projects

• Image based spatial transcriptomics to identify Beta Cell phenotypes in Type 1 Diabetes
• PanKbase: A Community Hub for Integrated Pancreas Knowledge

Bio

Holger Russ is a HIRN New Investigator and recently became an Associate Professor at the University of Florida, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the Diabetes Institute. His research focuses on using human stem cells to generate novel sources of beta cells for transplantation and to model human T1D in a dish.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/profile-rholger

Projects

• Elucidating the Human Beta Cell Translatome in Health and Disease
• Understanding Thymic Epithelial and Hematopoietic Stem Cell-intrinsic Immune Abnormalities Driving T1D in Optimized HIS Mouse Models

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Holger+Russ

Bio

Matthew Wortham is a Gateway Award Recipient and an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. His research is to define the mechanisms whereby beta cells detect and respond to changes in their metabolic environment.

Lab:

https://hirnetwork.org/about/participants#short-profile-maike-sander-md

Projects

• A 3D Biomimetic Human Islet to Model Beta Cell Function in Health and Disease
• Metabolic requirements of pancreatic beta cell proliferation

Projects

• Gene regulatory programs driving metabolic maturation of human pluripotent stem cell derived β-cells