Faculty members in the Department of Surgery have made remarkable observations regarding the effect of bariatric surgery on metabolism. This is an active area of both clinical and basic research.
Weight loss, perhaps through alterations in feedback from fat or other cell types, may substantially affect metabolic disorders, including diabetes. The pioneering approaches being studied by our faculty hold enormous promise for the millions of patients in America and worldwide living with obesity and diabetes.
The biology of the Islets of Langerhans, which contain mainly endocrine cells and endothelial cells, is central to the development of diabetes, and therefore plays a key role in the development of therapeutic strategies.
An efficient strategy to build functional human islets is important for both transplantation therapy and disease modeling of diabetes. We have established a strategy to direct human pluripotent stem cell differentiation toward pancreatic progenitors and endocrine progenitors in an efficient way.
We currently continue to combine the directed differentiation and tissue engineering to build up functional human islets that can be used for the replacement therapy for Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes patients.
