Bio

Ashutosh Agarwal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Pathology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral research in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, and at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. The mission of his Physiomimetic Microsystems Laboratory at the University of Miami is to develop human relevant organ mimic platforms for discovery of therapies and drugs, for modeling of disease states, for conducting mechanistic studies, and for differentiation, maturation and evaluation of stem cells.

Projects

• Engineering a Human Physiomimetic Islet Microsystem
• Real-time Detection of Insulin Surrogate Markers within Physiomimetic Islet Microsystems
• Engineering a Human Microphysiological System for the Characterization of Islet-Immune Interactions

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Ashu+Agarwal

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

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.

Projects

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

Bio

Rhonda Bacher is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the development of statistical methods and computational tools for analyzing high-throughput genomic and next-generation sequencing data. My current focus is on single-cell transcriptomics and epigenomics and time-course transcriptomics.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_rbacher?hilite=rhonda

Projects

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

Bio

Todd Brusko is a Professor at Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine and the scientific director at University of Florida Diabetes Institute (UFDI). The research aims of Dr. Brusko’s academic lab are centrally themed around understanding the mechanisms by which the immune system maintains a state of control, often referred to as immunological tolerance and understanding how genetic risk variants and age influence this process, as well as identifying pathway defects in individuals who develop autoimmune diseases. These studies have focused primarily on genes impacting key checkpoints in T cell activation, including T cell receptor (TCR) signaling, co-stimulation, and the IL-2 signaling pathway. His laboratory is involved a number of ongoing team science initiatives including an NIH-NIAID P01 grant, NIH Director’s Initiative – Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), Brehm Coalition, and the JDRF biomarker working group and autoimmunity working group.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_tbrusko?hilite=todd+brusko

Projects

• Genetic Regulation of Human Beta Cell Destruction
• Islet-reactive TCR clones in humanized mice generated with type 1 diabetes patient vs. healthy control hematopoietic stem cells
• Characterization of in silico Reconstruction of TCRs for Modeling Autoreactive T cells in T1D
• Engineering a Human Microphysiological System for the Characterization of Islet-Immune Interactions

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=todd+brusko

Bio

Peter Buchwald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Director of the Drug Discovery Program at the Diabetes Research Institute. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals focused on the physicochemical and metabolic aspects of drug design and drug action, as well as on computer-aided quantitative modeling. Dr. Buchwald is directing the DRI’s efforts aimed at developing safer and more effective drugs for islet replacement therapies.

Projects

• Aptamer Chimeras for the in vivo Modulation of Beta Cell Mass and Immunogenicity
• Engineering a Human Physiomimetic Islet Microsystem

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Peter+Buchwald

Bio

Karen Christman is a Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California in San Diego. Her lab focuses on developing novel biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Projects are highly interdisciplinary and include the development of materials for in vitro differentiation of stem cells to injectable biomaterials for tissue repair and regeneration. The lab has a strong translational focus with the main goal of developing novel minimally invasive therapies for cardiovascular disease

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_kchristman?hilite=Karen+Christman

Projects

• A 3D Biomimetic Human Islet to Model Beta Cell Function in Health and Disease
• Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Human Islet and Pancreas ECM
• A 3D Vascularized Islet Biomimetic to Model Type 1 Diabetes

Bio

Paul Gadue is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His laboratory studies cell fate decisions, focusing on endoderm and mesoderm specification using human ES cells and iPS cells. ES/iPS cells can differentiate into all cell types in the body and can be propagated in culture almost indefinitely, generating a virtually unlimited supply of cells. These unique characteristics lead to the exciting prospect of using these cells to study disease processes and developmental pathways in vitro and eventually to treat a wide variety of diseases using cell replacement therapies.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_pgadue?hilite=Gadue

Projects

• Functional Testing of Candidate HSC-derived Islet Cells
• Generation of Functional Endocrine Cell Reporter Pluripotent Cell Lines
• Microphysiological Systems for Modeling Autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes
• A Vascularized 3D Biomimetic for Islet Function and Physiology

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Paul+Gadue

Bio

George Davis is a Professor and the Department Chair of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Davis. His research uses stem cell, microfluidic and computational technologies to develop 3D mimics of human organs, known as "organs-on-a-chip." The lab specifically focuses on cancer (pancreatic, colorectal and breast), the cardiovascular system (perfused microcirculation, cariomyocytes) and the pancreas.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_sgeorge?hilite=Steven+George

Projects

• A 3D Biomimetic Human Islet to Model Beta Cell Function in Health and Disease
• A 3D Vascularized Islet Biomimetic to Model Type 1 Diabetes

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Steven+George

Bio

Christopher Hughes is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry School of Biological Sciences and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. His lab has identified several genes involved in regulating the multiple steps of angiogenesis and are developing reagents to specifically interfere with these processes.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_chughes?hilite=Chris+Hughes

Projects

• A 3D Biomimetic Human Islet to Model Beta Cell Function in Health and Disease
• Modular Monitoring of Hormone Release from Human Islets
• A 3D Vascularized Islet Biomimetic to Model Type 1 Diabetes
• Studying the Mechanisms of Initiation and Progression of Beta Cell Death in T1D

Bio

Dan Huh is an Associate Professor of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a pioneer of “organ-on-a-chip” technology, and his research group at Penn focuses on developing microengineered models of human physiological systems for a wide variety of biomedical applications.

Projects

• Microphysiological Systems for Modeling Autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes
• A Vascularized 3D Biomimetic for Islet Function and Physiology

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Dan+Huh

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Albert Hwa is a NIH NIDDK Program Director in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. His interests are in the basic mechanisms underlying the organogenesis and regeneration of pancreatic islets during health and disease; generation of islet cells from stem cells for disease modeling and regenerative medicine.

Bio

Clayton Mathews is a Professor of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Florida. His studies seek to improve our collective understanding on the means by which type 1 diabetes develops, both in humans and in mouse models of the disease. His efforts are extremely novel in that while the majority of researchers addressing the notion of how the disease develops focus on identifying defects in cells of the immune system.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_cmathews?hilite=Clayton+Mathews

Projects

• Defining Islet Heterogeneity Using Single Islet Transcriptomics
• Genetic Regulation of Human Beta Cell Destruction
• Exploiting the power of CyTOF/Mass Cytometry (MC) to elucidate the complex interactions of islet and immune cells in human type 1 diabetes pancreata
• Regulatory Networks and Biomarkers of Beta-cell Dysfunction and Apoptosis
• Engineering a Human Microphysiological System for the Characterization of Islet-Immune Interactions

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Clayton+Mathews

Bio

Jeffrey Millman is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. His research focus is in the in vitro production and study of pancreatic insulin-producing β cells from human pluripotent stem cells for use in cellular replacement therapy and drug screening.

Projects

• Epigenomic Engineering of Stem Cell-Derived Pancreatic Cells
• Studying the Mechanisms of Initiation and Progression of Beta Cell Death in T1D

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

Edward Phelps is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. His research focuses on biomaterials, regenerative medicine and immunoengineering.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_ephelps?hilite=Ed+Phelps

Projects

• Engineering a Human Physiomimetic Islet Microsystem
• Engineering a Human Microphysiological System for the Characterization of Islet-Immune Interactions

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Ed+Phelps

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

Cherie Stabler is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the engineering of cell-based tissues for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes, specifically the development of novel biomaterials for: cellular encapsulation; three-dimensional scaffolds; and in situ oxygen and drug release. Her laboratory works across the spectrum of research, from polymer development, benchtop studies, and preclinical models, to clinical translation.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Cherie+Stabler

Projects

• Engineering a Human Physiomimetic Islet Microsystem
• Engineering a Human Microphysiological System for the Characterization of Islet-Immune Interactions

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Cherie+Stabler

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Ben Stanger is the Director of the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center (PCRC), the Hanna Wise Professor in Cancer Research, and a Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. His laboratory investigates multiple aspects of pancreatic cancer biology, including metastasis, tumor immunology, metabolism, and therapy resistance. His research integrates mouse models and human data to identify new vulnerabilities that can be assessed clinically. Dr. Stanger is the chair of the Consortium of Human Islet Biomimetics (CHIB) and a member of the Trans-Network Committee (TNC).

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_bstanger

Projects

• Functional Testing of Candidate HSC-derived Islet Cells
• Microphysiological Systems for Modeling Autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes
• A Vascularized 3D Biomimetic for Islet Function and Physiology

Investigator Contributed Resources:

https://resourcebrowser.hirnetwork.org/SearchResults/Results/?query=Ben+Stanger

Bio

Luc Teyton is a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research. His research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which the ligation of the T cell receptor to its ligand, an MHC-peptide complex, activates T cells.

HIRN Investigator Profile:

https://hirnetwork.org/investigator_profile_lteyton?hilite=Luc+Teyton

Projects

• A 3D Vascularized Islet Biomimetic to Model Type 1 Diabetes
• Studying the Mechanisms of Initiation and Progression of Beta Cell Death in T1D

HIRN Webinar:

Bio

Ken Zaret is a Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on understanding ways that genes are regulated in order to allow one type of cell to change into another type of cell. Such “cell type control” occurs in embryonic development and tissue regeneration, when embryo or adult stem cells become specialized for tissue function.

Projects

• Functional Testing of Candidate HSC-derived Islet Cells
• A Vascularized 3D Biomimetic for Islet Function and Physiology

Projects

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