Dr. Jeffrey Millman has received a renewal of his NIH R01 grant titled “Studying the Role of the Microenvironment on Differentiation and Maturation of Beta Cells”, providing 4 years of additional support into his research.
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold great potential as a renewable source of insulin-producing islets for diabetes treatment. While transplantation of donor islets has shown promise, the scarcity and variability of isolated human islets pose significant limitations. To overcome these challenges, Dr. Millman aims to enhance the differentiation and maturation of hPSC-derived islets through microenvironmental modulation, studying cell fate decisions and maturation processes.
Successful outcomes from this study could improve hPSC-islet differentiation protocols, advancing diabetes cell replacement therapy and disease modeling.