Bio

Joana Almaça is a HIRN New Investigator and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Her current research focuses on the vasculature of the islet. In her work, Dr. Almaça is testing the hypothesis that microvascular dysfunction in the islet leads to a disturbance of hormone secretion, to glucose intolerance, and eventually to diabetes.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/profile-almaca

Projects

• Changes in Human Islet Microvasculature during Type 1 Diabetes
• Integrative Analysis of Multiomic Signatures and Cellular Function in Human Pancreas Across Developmental Timeline at Single-cell Spatial Resolution

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Joana+Almaca

Bio

Radhika Armandla is a Senior Research Specialist in the Powers & Brissova Research Group at Vanderbilt University. She is involved in projects dealing with human islet transplantation, in vitro analysis and imaging in order to study human islet survival, function, regeneration and proliferation.

Lab:

https://hirnetwork.org/about/participants#short-profile-al-powers-md

Projects

• High-Resolution Analysis of Juvenile Human Pancreas Maturation
• Molecular Mechanisms of Physiologic Beta Cell Growth in Juvenile Human Pancreas
• Single Cell Analysis of the Human Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes

Bio

Guillermo Arreaza-Rubin is a NIH NIDDK Program Director in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. His interests are in diabetes and endocrine disease bioengineering and glucose sensing.

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

Bio

Mark Atkinson is currently the American Diabetes Association Eminent Scholar for Diabetes Research and the Jeffrey Keene Family Professor at the University of Florida. He also is the Director of the Diabetes Institute at the University of Florida. Additionally, he is the Executive Director of the JDRF Network for Pancreatic Organ donors with Diabetes (nPOD) program and the President of Insulin for Life USA, the world’s second largest charity dedicated to providing insulin to persons living with diabetes in the developing world. His research focuses on type 1 diabetes, pancreatic pathology, immune therapy, autoimmunity, clinical trials, translational research, emerging technologies, psychosocial behaviors, and metabolism.

Projects

• Defining Islet Heterogeneity Using Single Islet Transcriptomics
• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• Integrated Program for Human Pancreas Procurement and Analysis
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Antibodies for Beta-Cell Subtype Identification by Immunohistochemistry
• Single-Cell Analyses of Human Islets in T1D Using Highly Multiplexed Imaging

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Mark+Atkinson

Bio

Michael Betts is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania. He studies human T lymphocyte function in order to understand the role of these cells in controlling or eliminating viral pathogens and providing protection from infection. His primary research interest is in determining how and if the human CD8+ T cell response to HIV controls viral replication.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Michael+Betts

Bio

Anil Bhushan is a Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. His research goal is to understand the role of tissue secretory senescent cells in aging, autoimmunity and metabolic diseases. One of his recent discoveries shows that pancreatic beta cells acquire a secretome during T1D in mice and human and exhibit many non-cell autonomous properties.

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Anil+Bhushan

Bio

Olivier Blondel is a NIH NIDDK Program Director in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. His interests lie in research that focuses on endocrine signaling, stem cell biology, organ development, regenerative medicine and biomarker discovery as it relates to diabetes (type 1 and type 2) and metabolic diseases, particularly in combination with experimental approaches such as large-scale genomics, synthetic biology, bioengineering, epigenetics, nuclear organization of mammalian genomes, chromatin biology, genome editing, gene therapy

Bio

Marcela Brissova is an Research Professor of Medicine and Director of the Islet Procurement & Analysis Core at Vanderbilt University. She is also the Director of the Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) of IIDP. Her research focuses on the biology of pancreatic islets and pancreas and islet development, especially the development of pancreatic islet vasculature and innervation and their role in regulation of pancreatic islet function.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_brissova?hilite=Marcela+Brissova

Projects

• Integrative Analysis of Multiomic Signatures and Cellular Function in Human Pancreas Across Developmental Timeline at Single-cell Spatial Resolution
• In situ Analysis of Functional Endocrine, Vascular, and Immune Cell Interactions During Early Postnatal Development of the Human Pancreas
• High-Resolution Analysis of Juvenile Human Pancreas Maturation
• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• Integrated Program for Human Pancreas Procurement and Analysis
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Molecular Mechanisms of Physiologic Beta Cell Growth in Juvenile Human Pancreas

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/Contributor/Index/marcela_brissova@hirnetwork.org

Bio

Alejandro Caicedo is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. iginally trained as a sensory neurobiologist, Dr. Caicedo started working in the field of pancreatic islet biology in 2005. His work focuses on fundamental aspects of the anatomy and physiology of the human islet. His primary goal is to provide detailed knowledge of islet biology that is relevant to understand the control of glucose homeostasis and its derangement in diabetes.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_caicedo

Projects

• Integrative Analysis of Multiomic Signatures and Cellular Function in Human Pancreas Across Developmental Timeline at Single-cell Spatial Resolution
• In situ Analysis of Functional Endocrine, Vascular, and Immune Cell Interactions During Early Postnatal Development of the Human Pancreas
• High-Resolution Characterization of Human Ductal Progenitor Cells and their Regeneration Potential
• Real-time Detection of Insulin Surrogate Markers within Physiomimetic Islet Microsystems

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Alejandro+Caicedo

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Chunhua Dai is a Research Associate Professor in the Powers & Brissova Research Group at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on the molecular, cellular, and vascular changes in human islets when they are challenged with hyperglycemia and/or insulin resistance in vivo. She is investigating in vivo age-dependent human beta cell proliferation and how current therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes preserve and/or enhance human beta cell function or survival in vivo.

Projects

• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Molecular Mechanisms of Physiologic Beta Cell Growth in Juvenile Human Pancreas

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Chunhua+Dai

Bio

XiaoQing Dai is a Research Associate Professor in the MacDonald Lab at the University of Alberta. She is the lead electrophysiologist and involved in many collaborative projects.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/research_staff_profile_xai?hilite=XiaoQing+Dai

Projects

• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=XiaoQing+Dai

Bio

Nicolai Doliba is a Research Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the role of bioenergetics, ion transport and metabolic coupling factors in nutrient- and drug-stimulated insulin release at normal conditions and during diabetes mellitus.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)

Bio

Juan Dominguez-Bendala is a Research Professor of Surgery at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is also the Director of Stem Cell & Pancreatic Regeneration and Research Professor of Surgery at the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI). His research focuses on the use of stem cells to obtain pancreatic islets that could potentially be transplanted into patients with type 1 diabetes. He is also currently working on new methods for expansion/regeneration of pancreatic beta cells.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_bendala?hilite=Juan+Dominguez-Bendala

Projects

• High-Resolution Characterization of Human Ductal Progenitor Cells and their Regeneration Potential
• Using ex vivo, in vivo Models and Patient Mutations to Interrogate Pancreatic Exocrine-Endocrine Cross Talk

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Juan+Dominguez-Bendala

Bio

Robert Babak Faryabi is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research goal is to understand the epigenetic mechanisms of transcriptional addiction in cancer and exploit this information to advance cancer therapeutics.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)

Bio

Michael Feldman is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Vice Chair for Clinical Services, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Director of the Office of Pathology Informatics.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Michael+Feldman

Bio

Kyle Gaulton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. His research focuses on human genetics and single cell genomics to define cell type-specific gene regulatory programs that affect risk of complex disease, in particular type 1 diabetes.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_gaulton?hilite=Kyle+Gaulton

Projects

• Single Cell Analysis of the Human Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Kyle+Gaulton

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Anna Gloyn is a Professor of Pediatrics, Endocrinology and Genetics at Stanford University. Her research uses human genetics as a tool to understand cellular and molecular mechanisms for pancreatic beta cell failure in diabetes and related conditions. he aim of her research is to capitalize on an improved mechanistic understanding of pancreatic islet cell dysfunction to improve treatment options for patients via the identification of safe and effective therapeutic targets (drug development) and patient stratification (precision medicine).

Projects

• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)

Bio

Jing Hughes is a Gateway Award Recipient and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Lipid Research at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Her research focuses on the islet cell-cell interactions and the regulation of islet hormone secretion.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator-profile-jing-hughes

Projects

• Primary Cilia in Human T1D Pancreas

Bio

Klaus Kaestner Professor in Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Director of the Functional Genomics Core at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interest is in employing modern genetic, genomic and epigenomic approaches (ChIP-Seq, RNA-Seq, gene targeting, tissue-specific and inducible gene ablation, CyTOF) to understand the molecular mechanisms of organogenesis and physiology of the liver, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract. Disease areas targeted by our research include diabetes and cancer.

Projects

• Drivers and Consequences of Beta Cell DNA Damage in Type 1 Diabetes
• Epigenetic Rejuvenation of Human Beta-Cells
• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)
• The Role of Senescent Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
• A New Immunodeficient Mouse Model with Stable Hyperglycemia for the Study of Human Beta-cells
• Can Genomic Mosaicism explain the Lobular Nature of Type 1 Diabetes?
• Mass Spectrometry-based Proteome Maps for Human Islet Cells

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Klaus+Kaestner

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Seung Kim is a Professor of Developmental Biology and Medicine (Oncology) at Stanford University School of Medicine. His research focuses on the developmental biology of the pancreas, a vital organ with endocrine and exocrine functions in the vertebrate digestive tract. One goal of our work is to translate our studies into novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for common pancreatic disease states in humans, particularly diabetes mellitus and pancreatic cancer.

Projects

• CAR T Cell Targeting of Human Islets
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Therapeutic Targeting of Human Islets with Recombinant Regulatory T Cells
• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ
• Molecular Mechanisms of Physiologic Beta Cell Growth in Juvenile Human Pancreas
• Exploiting the power of CyTOF/Mass Cytometry (MC) to elucidate the complex interactions of islet and immune cells in human type 1 diabetes pancreata

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Seung+Kim

Bio

Vira Kravets is a HIRN Emerging Leader Award Recipient and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is currently leading interdisciplinary projects in search for the underlying causes for Diabetes. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation supported Fellow, skilled in Islet Biology, Surface Plasmon Resonance, Microscopy, Optics and Public Speaking

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator-profile-vira-kavets

Projects

• Beta-cells 1st Responders and Functional Paracrine Networks in Healthy and Diabetic Human Islets

Bio

Irina Kusmartseva is the Director of the JDRF nPOD Organ Processing and Pathology Core. She has unique experience with the molecular and primary cell culture. Her key area of expertise includes mechanisms of immunoregulation in inflammation, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• Integrated Program for Human Pancreas Procurement and Analysis

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Irina+Kusmartseva

Bio

Wen-Hong Li is an Associate Professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He is an endowed Scholar in Medical Research in the Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry.

Projects

• Ultra-sensitive Probes for High Resolution Imaging of Hormone Secretion in Islet Cells of Physiological Preparations

Bio

Heiko Lickert is a Professor and Chair of Beta Cell Biology in the Medical Faculty of the Technical University Munich, the Director of the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research and Principal Investigator in the Institute of Stem Cell Research at the Helmholtz Center Munich.

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Heiko+Lickert

Bio

Chengyang Liu is an Adjunct Professor of Surgery and the Director of the Human Islet Laboratory & Clinical GMP Facility at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Projects

• Determining the Intrinsic and Environmental Signal Contributing to Early T1D Progression

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Chengyang+Liu

Bio

Emma Lundberg is a Professor in Cell Biology Proteomics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and Director of the Cell Atlas, of the Human Protein Atlas program. She recently joined the Stanford University Bioengineering Department as an Associate Professor of Bioengineering. Her research is focused on spatial proteomics and cell biology.

Projects

• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Bio

Patrick MacDonald is Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Alberta and the Director of the Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI) IsletCore. His research focuses on pancreatic islet function in health and diabetes. The research from his laboratory has spanned areas that include biophysical characterization of ion channels, intracellular signal transduction and exocytosis, and the cellular regulation of glucagon secretion.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/?s=Patrick+MacDonald

Projects

• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Patrick+MacDonald

Bio

Ali Naji is Professor of Surgical Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Associate Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His research efforts have focused on the immunobiology of transplantation and immune pathogenesis of autoimmune diabetes

Projects

• Drivers and Consequences of Beta Cell DNA Damage in Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)
• Microphysiological Systems for Modeling Autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=ali+naji

Bio

Ricardo Pastori is Research Professor of Medicine, Immunology, and Microbiology and the Director of the Molecular Biology Laboratory at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. His laboratory has developed novel molecular tools and applied them to study β-cell biology and to improve the outcome of islet transplantation such as the development and utilization of protein transduction (PT) technology, a method that utilizes small protein transduction domains (PTDs), to deliver proteins into cells.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigatorprofile_pastori?hilite=Ricardo+Pastori

Projects

• High-Resolution Characterization of Human Ductal Progenitor Cells and their Regeneration Potential

Bio

Al Powers is a Professor of Medicine, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University. He is also the Director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, Director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center, and Chief of the Vanderbilt Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism. His research focuses on pancreatic islet biology, vascularization, development, regeneration, and imaging.

Projects

• Integrative Analysis of Multiomic Signatures and Cellular Function in Human Pancreas Across Developmental Timeline at Single-cell Spatial Resolution
• High-Resolution Analysis of Juvenile Human Pancreas Maturation
• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• Integrated Program for Human Pancreas Procurement and Analysis
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Therapeutic Targeting of Human Islets with Recombinant Regulatory T Cells
• Molecular Mechanisms of Physiologic Beta Cell Growth in Juvenile Human Pancreas
• Exploiting the power of CyTOF/Mass Cytometry (MC) to elucidate the complex interactions of islet and immune cells in human type 1 diabetes pancreata
• Single Cell Analysis of the Human Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Al+Powers

Bio

Stephen Quake is a Professor of Bioengineering and Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University and is co-President of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. Quake has invented many measurement tools for biology, including new DNA sequencing technologies that have enabled rapid analysis of the human genome and microfluidic automation that allows scientists to efficiently isolate individual cells and decipher their genetic code. Quake is also well known for inventing new diagnostic tools, including the first non-invasive prenatal test for Down syndrome and other aneuploidies.

Projects

• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Stephen+Quake

Bio

Dr. Chris Rhdoes is the Research and Early Development, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), BioPharmaceuticals R&D, and Chair of AstraZeneca’s postdoc programme. He is a renowned leader in the field of diabetes, obesity and metabolism research, with a career spanning over three decades. He has more than 180 published manuscripts, and has held industry and academic leadership roles at top institutions that include Harvard Medical School and the University of Washington. Chris is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, Department of Medicine

Bio

Camillo Ricordi is Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami (UM) in Florida. He serves as Director of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) and the Cell Transplant Program. Dr. Ricordi been serving as Responsible Head of the NIH-funded cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) Human Cell Processing Facility (1993-present), for the manufacturing of advanced human cell and other biologic products.

Projects

• Aptamer Chimeras for the in vivo Modulation of Beta Cell Mass and Immunogenicity
• High-Resolution Characterization of Human Ductal Progenitor Cells and their Regeneration Potential
• Engineering a Human Physiomimetic Islet Microsystem

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Camillo+Ricordi

Bio

James Riley is a Professor of Microbiology at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His lab studies the signaling pathways that control primary human T cell activation and function with special attention to how these manipulations can be exploited to develop T cell therapies for HIV, autoimmune disease and cancer. The lab is also focused on designing HIV resistant, HIV specific T cells to be key players in the HIV Cure effort.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_jriley?hilite=James+Riley

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=James+Riley

Bio

Dr. Bart O. Roep is Professor of Diabetology, Immunopathology & Intervention and Director of the National Diabetes Center of Excellence at the Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands and Visiting Professor of the Danish Diabetes Academy. He is also Founding Chair and Professor of Medicine of the Department of Diabetes Immunology, and holds the Chan Soon-Shiong Shapiro Distinguished Chair in Diabetes at the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope in Los Angeles.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_mrupnik?hilite=marjan+rupnik

Projects

• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Bio

Guy Rutter is a Professor of Cell Biology and Functional Genomics at Imperial College of London. His research focuses on signal transduction in the pancreatic β-cell in health and disease - my chief focus is in using functional genomics at the cellular and whole organism level to dissect the role of genes associated with Type 2 diabetes.

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Guy+Rutter

Bio

Juan Alvarez is a Gateway Award Recipient and an Assistant Research Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Currently he is investigating the pathways by which thyroid hormones regulates skeletal muscle physiology and the role of type-2 deiodinase in muscle biology and its importance to plasma T3 pool.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator-profile-joao-pedro-werneck-de-castro

Projects

• In vivo effects of physical exercise on human islet structure and function

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Joao+Pedro+Werneck+de+Castro

Bio

Nilanjana Samanta is the Data Curator for the Human Pancreas Analysis Program (HPAP) Pancreas Database (PancDB). She uses her data analysis skills for meaningful interpretation of factors associated with health outcomes, monitor healthcare access, and health disparity.

Bio

Maike Sander is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular & Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and Co-Director of the Center on Diabetes in the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at UCSD. Her primary research interest is to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation and function of the diverse cell types of the pancreas, in particular the insulin-producing beta cells. A recent major focus has been to establish a human pluripotent stem cell-based pancreatic beta cell differentiation platform to model mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of diabetes.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_msander?hilite=Maike+Sander

Projects

• A 3D Biomimetic Human Islet to Model Beta Cell Function in Health and Disease
• Functional Testing of Candidate HSC-derived Islet Cells
• Single Cell Analysis of the Human Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes
• A 3D Vascularized Islet Biomimetic to Model Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Maike+Sander

Bio

Stephan Speier is a Professor of Physiology and the Director of the Institute of Phyiology at Technische Universität Dresden in Dresden, Germany. His lab studies islet cell physiology within an intact tissue environment or the systemic setting. He investigates the role of beta cell mass and function at distinct stages of diabetes pathogenesis and aims to discover novel therapeutic targets for beta cell protection and recovery in type 1 and type 2 diabetes

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_speier

Projects

• In situ Analysis of Functional Endocrine, Vascular, and Immune Cell Interactions During Early Postnatal Development of the Human Pancreas

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Stephan+Speier

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Doris Stoffers is a HPAC Investigator and a member of the Trans-Network Committee (TNC). She is a the Director of the Pancreatic Islet Cell Biology Core, Director of the Pilot Feasibility Program and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the embryonic development and adult regeneration of the endocrine pancreas, and the relationship of defects in these pathways to the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus, a disease caused by a deficiency in the production or action of insulin.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)

Projects

• Linking Islet Cell Function and Identity from in vitro to in situ

Bio

Dr. Golnaz Vahedi is currently an Associate Professor of Genetics (with tenure) at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Golnaz. She studied Electrical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Iran. As an independent investigator, she uses systems-based approaches to understand molecular details of gene regulation in the immune system. She is the recipient of a number of awards including the NIH Director’s Award (twice), NIAID K22 Career Transition Award (perfect score), Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Award, W. W. Smith Charitable Trust, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and Michael S. Brown New Investigator Research Award. She serves on the advisory boards of Cell Press journal Immunity and Science Immunology and is a standing member of GCAT study section.

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Univ. Pennsylvania)
• Dissecting Transcriptomics and Epigenomic Signatures of Immune Cells in T1D

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Golnaz+Vahedi

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Ben Voight is Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Bioinformatics Concentration at the University of Pennsylvania. His lab develops and utilizes statistical genetics, computational biology, and population genetics-based approaches to understand the biological underpinnings and evolutionary history of human traits and complex disease

Bio

Mingder Yang is the Director of the JDRF nPOD Admin Core at the University of Florida.

Lab:

https://hirnetwork.org/about/participants#short-profile-mark-atkinson-phd

Projects

• HPAP T1D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
• Integrated Program for Human Pancreas Procurement and Analysis

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Mingder+Yang