Pancreatic Islet Transplantation Program
DIRECTOR: Ezio Bonifacio

The islet transplantation program is an interdisciplinary approach to curing type 1 diabetes. Clinicians of the Departments of Medicine and Surgery work together with immunologists and cell biologists to develop and implement safe beta cell replacement in patients with type 1 diabetes. A major focus is the design and testing of tolerogenic therapies which will enable glucose control with fewer islets and minimal immunosuppression. Experimental tolerance induction through the induction of regulatory immune cells, or inhibiting specific signals of T cell activation are prime areas of interest. Clinical translation of efficacious protocols to patients with type 1 diabetes and extensive investigation of metabolic and immunological sequelae of islet transplantation in these patients is the target of our research. The islet transplantation program has recently been awarded a Telethon-Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center grant to pursue these goals.