The Type 1 Diabetes Unit of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (IDOM) brings together investigators studying the immunologic and metabolic mechanisms involved in the etiology and treatment of type 1 diabetes, including the complications of hypoglycemia and micro-vascular disease. This multi-disciplinary collaboration spans across the basic and clinical science departments of the schools of Nursing and Medicine, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Wistar Institute, the Monell Chemical Senses Center, and the Abramson Cancer Center.

As a result of this collaboration, the Type 1 Diabetes Unit is home to one of five NIH-sponsored Islet Cell Resources Centers and is involved as one of five NIH-sponsored Clinical Islet Transplantation Centers, with new clinical trials in islet transplantation now underway. In addition to the Type 1 Diabetes Unit’s collaborative efforts in islet transplantation as an emerging treatment for type 1 diabetes, multidisciplinary working groups are evaluating the immunologic mechanisms leading to islet beta cell destruction in type 1 diabetes and islet rejection in transplantation, and attempting to incorporate novel imaging modalities to assess and monitor beta cell mass. New research initiatives by IDOM members are supported by an annual pilot and feasibility grant award mechanism.

The Type 1 Diabetes Unit also works in concert with its partner units within IDOM. Examples of important areas of collaboration include the critical role of beta cell defects in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the impediment of obesity on achieving optimal glucose control in type 1 diabetes, and the impact of hyperglycemia on the development of cardiovascular complications. Finally, the translation of progress in the basic sciences to clinical studies utilizes the support of the Patient-Oriented Research Unit.

Type 1 Diabetes Unit Members

 

 

Ali Naji
Ali Naji, M.D.
Co-Director,
Type 1 Diabetes Unit

Klaus Kaestner, PhD

Klaus Kaestner, Ph.D.
Co-Director,
Type 1 Diabetes Unit