Professor Cristina Nostro's Team Receives Grant to Accelerate Stem Cell-Based Therapies for Type 1 Diabetes

Cristina Nostro, Department of Physiology Professor and Senior Scientist at the McEwen Stem Cell Institute at UHN, was awarded a team grant to accelerate the clinical translation of universal donor stem cell-derived islet cells for type 1 diabetes therapy. 

The funding is provided through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (CIHR-INMD), and JDRF Canada, as part of the CIHR-JDRF Partnership to Defeat Diabetes, and CIHR’s initiative 100 Years of Insulin: Accelerating Canadian Discoveries to Defeat Diabetes.

At today's event announcing this historic funding, Professor Nostro explained:

"We plan to [achieve our goal] by using human stem cells designed to avoid rejection after transplantation. These cells will be used to generate an unlimited source of surrogate islets. By implementing novel approaches to optimize the transplant site we aim to enhance their survival after transplantation and allow for immediate and long-term graft functionality.

"Because of this funding competition, I have had the possibility to dream big and assemble a fantastic team of scientists that share my vision to develop a cell product to treat patients living with type 1 diabetes without the need of immunesuppression."

The team is comprised of the University of Toronto's Professors Sara Nunes Vasconcelos and Daniel Drucker, the University of Alberta's Professors Andrew Pepper and Gregory Korbutt, and collaborators Dr. Li Zhang, Senior Scientist at UHN and Professor Michael Brehm of the University of Massachusetts Medical school.

Professor Nostro's work carries on the Department of Physiology's history as the site of the discovery of insulin. The fact that this funding comes in honour of this legacy makes it all the more special. Congratulations Professor Nostro and team!