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

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

Dana Avrahami-Tzfati is scientist at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel.

Projects

• Epigenetic Rejuvenation of Human Beta-Cells
• The Role of Senescent Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
• The Role of Beta Cell Senescence in the Pathogenesis of Diabetes

Projects

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

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
• PanKbase: A Community Hub for Integrated Pancreas Knowledge

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

Martha Campbell-Thompson is a Professor, Director of the Molecular Pathology Core at the University of Florida and Director of the JDRF nPOD Organ Procurement and Pathology Core. Her research interests are in beta cell biology, beta cell regeneration for type 1 diabetes, islet inflammation and neuromodulation of beta cell function.

Projects

• Defining Islet Heterogeneity Using Single Islet Transcriptomics
• Survival and Potential of Insulin-deficient Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Martha+Campbell+Thompson

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

Projects

• Using ex vivo, in vivo Models and Patient Mutations to Interrogate Pancreatic Exocrine-Endocrine Cross Talk

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

Yuval Dor is a Professor of Biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has worked in the past mostly on diabetes and tissue regeneration in the pancreas, but in recent years much of our focus has shifted to a new technology that we are developing, for non-invasive monitoring of cell death in humans, based on circulating DNA.

Projects

• Drivers and Consequences of Beta Cell DNA Damage in Type 1 Diabetes
• Non-invasive Detection of Cell Death in Type 1 Diabetes: Insight into Novel Disease Mechanisms
• Non-invasive Diagnosis of Human Beta Cell Damage and Death
• The Proteome of Replicating Cells
• Survival and Potential of Insulin-deficient Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=+Yuval+Dor

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

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

• An Interactive Resource to Generate and Provide Integrated Knowledge of the Human Pancreas
• 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

• An Interactive Resource to Generate and Provide Integrated Knowledge of the Human Pancreas
• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)

Bio

Dirk Homann is a physician and immunologist/virologist in Berlin, Boston, Paris and La Jolla, CA. His research focuses on the development, adaptation and optimization of therapeutic strategies that effectively curtail (autoimmunity) or embellish (infectious disease) T cell responses with prophylactic and/or curative intent. Dr. Homann has expanded his research program to encompass a broader context of pancreatic islet cell biology and histopathology in human T1D, and he has launched multiple collaborative efforts to better leverage complementary expert knowledge, unique technology access and more effective overall implementation of research strategies.

Projects

• HPAP T2D: Human Pancreas Analysis Program (Vanderbilt Univ.)
• Human Islet-Infiltrating T cell Biology: Reactivity, Structure and Function
• 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=Dirk+Homann

Projects

• Cooperativity between Calcium and cAMP-inducing Agents in Human Alpha and Beta Cells

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

Vira Kravets is a HIRN Emerging Leader Award Recipient. She recently accepted a position as an Assistant Professor II at the University of California San Diego. Jointly appointed to the Department of Bioengineering and Department of Pediatrics. 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

Rohit Kulkarni is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Head of the Section on Islet & Regenerative Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center. His research explores the significance of growth factor signaling mechanisms in the regulation of islet biology by creating genetic models to examine the roles of insulin/IGF-1 receptors and their substrate proteins.

Projects

• Development of platforms for beta cell-specific delivery and ligand discovery
• Development of Small Molecule-based Methods for Targeted Cargo Delivery to Beta Cells
• Interrogation of Dynamic RNA Modifications in Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes
• Using ex vivo, in vivo Models and Patient Mutations to Interrogate Pancreatic Exocrine-Endocrine Cross Talk
• Regulatory Networks and Biomarkers of Beta-cell Dysfunction and Apoptosis
• One-compound, one-islet: A High-throughput Platform for Small-molecule Discovery

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Rohit+Kulkarni

HIRN Webinar:

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

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

Projects

• Integrative Analysis of Multiomic Signatures and Cellular Function in Human Pancreas Across Developmental Timeline at Single-cell Spatial Resolution

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

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

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

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

Desmond Schatz, MD is Professor and Interim Chair of Pediatrics, Medical Director of the Diabetes Institute and Director of the Clinical Research Center within the CTSI at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is the PI of the University of Florida Clinical Center participating in the NIH-funded TrialNet (a founding member of the DPT-1 in 1994). He served as President of Science and Medicine of the American Diabetes Association in 2016.

Projects

• Non-invasive Detection of Cell Death in Type 1 Diabetes: Insight into Novel Disease Mechanisms
• Non-invasive Diagnosis of Human Beta Cell Damage and Death
• Survival and Potential of Insulin-deficient Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Desmond+Schatz

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)

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

Projects

• An Interactive Resource to Generate and Provide Integrated Knowledge of the Human Pancreas

Bio

Xujing Wang is a NIH NIDDK Program Director in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. Her interests are in data science, computation modeling, integrative genomics, network biology, and genotype-phenotype relationships.

Bio

Clive Wasserfall is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Florida. His research is focused on the immunopathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). His laboratory is involved in immune monitoring of human clinical trails to reverse or prevent T1D while searching for biomarkers of efficacy. Additionally, his laboratory houses the autoantibody screening core for the JDRF network for pancreas organ donors with diabetes (nPOD) program.

Projects

• Survival and Potential of Insulin-deficient Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes
• Single-Cell Analyses of Human Islets in T1D Using Highly Multiplexed Imaging

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Clive+H+Wasserfall