Dr. Erica P. Cai: "Mapping Beta Cell Vulnerability via Functional CRISPR Screening"

~ Eligible for PSL1000H/PSL2000H/PSL4000Y Course Seminar Attendance ~    

Speaker: Dr. Erica P. Cai

Assistant Research Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine

Biography:
Dr. Erica P. Cai is an Assistant Research Professor of Pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM). She is a faculty member of the Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric Research and the Indiana Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases (CDMD). Dr. Cai obtained her bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology from Taipei Medical University and her master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from National Taiwan University. She earned her Ph.D. in Medical Science from the University of Toronto under the mentorship of Dr. Minna Woo. Following the postdoctoral training at the Joslin Diabetes Center from 2014 to 2020, she was promoted to Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In April 2021, Dr. Cai joined the Lilly Diabetes Center of Excellence within the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) as an Assistant Investigator and was advanced to Scientific Director in 2025 before transitioning her research footprint to IUSM.

Dr. Cai’s research program integrates genetic engineering, cell biology, metabolism, and immunology to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying pancreatic beta cell dysfunction, metabolic disorders, and autoimmune diabetes (T1D). Notably, her laboratory was the first group to successfully conduct in vivo CRISPR-Cas9 genome-wide screening in an autoimmune diabetes animal model. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, she combines genome-scale screening and CRISPRa gene-editing tools with human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) differentiation platforms to investigate how modulating specific components of cellular bioprocesses can reduce beta cell immunogenicity and prevent cell death. Ultimately, her goal is to leverage these forward genetic insights to characterize novel targets regulating ER stress adaptation, protein secretion dynamics, mitochondrial bioenergetics, and cell survival, thereby advancing innovative beta cell replacement strategies and disease-modifying therapies for diabetes.

Website(s):
https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/71261/cai-erica

Location:  MSB 2170 (in-person only)

Hosted by the MacDonald Lab