THE URGENCY OF NOW

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that can emerge as early as six months of age and lead to a lifelong struggle with the burdens of the chronic condition. Our laboratory is committed to understanding why this disease develops in at-risk individuals, and to generating novel therapies to halt or reverse the disease after onset. We are proud to play an integral role in many team science efforts striving to prevent the development of this disease and, ultimately, to find a cure.

2022-2023 Publications

2024 Research Projects overview

Lab news

Leeana Todd Puchong — **Congratulations to Leeana Peters, PhD. & Puchong Thirawatananond, PhD.** (May 4, 2023)

**Marcus Pina presenting at Celebration of Research Poster Session Feb 2024**

13th Annual College of Medicine Celebration of Research Poster Session at the O’Connell Center February 28, 2023

The FOCIS 2022 Annual Meeting is THE meeting in translational immunology. FOCIS brings together leading clinicians and researchers from over 30 countries delivering the latest breakthroughs across immunology. June 21-24. San Francisco, USA.

FOCIS 2022

Poster of Distinction Awards

Puchong Thirawatananond
Selective CD226 Knockout on Regulatory T cells Reduces Diabetes in Female NOD Mice
Matt Brown
Human CD4+CD25+Regulatory T Cells Deficient of CD226 Demonstrate Increased Purity and Lineage Stability Following Ex Vivo Expansion for Adoptive Treg Therapy

FOCIS 2022

Oral Presentations

Melanie Shapiro
Autoimmunity Risk Loci Tagged to CIITA and MHC Class II Impact CD8+ T Cell and Monocyte HLA-DR Expression
Matt Brown
Human CD4+CD25+Regulatory T Cells Deficient of CD226 Demonstrate Increased Purity and Lineage Stability Following Ex Vivo Expansion for Adoptive Treg Therapy

FOCIS 2022 Poster Presentations

Leeana Peters
Engineering Optimized Autoreactive T cells for the Study of Type 1 Diabetes Pathogenesis

Miguel Medina-Serpas
Integrating spatial transcriptomics and single-cell RNA sequencing to spatially characterize human lymphatic tissue

2022 Graduates with Honor Thesis

Lindsey Sachs
Matt Brown
Juan Martin Arnoletti

T1D news

New “Pancreatic Islet on a Chip” System Will…

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University of Florida researchers will use a new $5 million grant to develop a “pancreatic islet on a chip” — a platform that will allow them…

Human Atlas of Neonatal Development and Early…

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Human Atlas of Neonatal Development and Early Life-Immunity (HANDEL-I) The early life events that influence immune system development have…

Helmsley Grant to UFDI to Study Immune Repertoire…

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University of Florida and Kings College London have secured a $3.7 million grant funded by Adaptive Biotechnologies and the Leona M. and Harry B…

News In Brief

All Posts

June 27, 2022

‘Transformational’ cell-based therapy ‘effective’ in helping those with hard-to-control type 1 diabetes

October 20, 2021

A new therapy for treating Type 1 diabetes

August 29, 2019

Pancreas on a chip – Beta Cell Transplantation

HSCI scientists have combined organ-on-a-chip and stem-cell technologies to make a powerful tool for diabetes research and beta-cell transplantation.

September 20, 2021

TechnologyNetworks Diagnostics

Early Detection of Autoantibodies in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Treatment Possibilities Beyond Insulin

International Clinical Centers

Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet

The University of Florida (UF) is one of twenty-five Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet International Clinical Centers at the forefront of type 1 diabetes research. Led by Desmond Schatz, MD, the TrialNet team at UF is dedicated to preventing type 1 diabetes and stopping disease progression by preserving insulin production before and after diagnosis.