Lundquist investigator Dr. Eiji Yoshihara awarded $3 million NIH R01 grant for diabetes stem cell therapy research

Dr. Yoshihara will investigate cutting-edge transcriptional gene regulation processes

2024-04-02

(Press-News.org)

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a division of the National Institutes of Health, has granted Eiji Yoshihara, PhD, a principal investigator at The Lundquist Institute (TLI) and assistant professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, a five-year grant totaling $3 million. This prestigious NIH R01 grant, known for its rigorous peer-review process, is dedicated to advancing stem cell therapy research for treating diabetes.

Insulin-dependent diabetes, including autoimmune Type 1 and stress-induced Type 2, presents a significant health burden, often necessitating lifelong insulin therapy and glucose monitoring. While pancreatic islet transplantation offers a ray of hope for Type 1 diabetes, its applicability is hindered by donor shortages and the need for immunosuppression. Dr. Yoshihara's research focuses on the potential of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to create functional islet cells.

Overcoming the limitations of current stem cell-derived organoids, which are three-dimensional structures that mimic the function of an organ and include functional immaturity and heterogeneity, Dr. Yoshihara’s team aims to discover markers to differentiate mature organoids, optimizing their clinical utility. Furthermore, the research team, led by Dr. Yoshihara, will investigate cutting-edge transcriptional gene regulation processes that are anticipated to accelerate the maturation of organoids.

“Despite significant progress in stem cell-derived mini-organ technologies, we are still challenged by their functional immaturity and variability,” said Dr. Yoshihara. “There are no effective methods to differentiate between mature and immature organoids in dishes. By identifying markers to distinguish these ‘good’ and ‘bad’ organoids and developing techniques to segregate organoids of optimal quality, we aim to propel cell therapy in diabetes into a more promising future.”

Dr. Yoshihara is a renowned expert in stem cell therapy. This innovative research is supported by the NIDDK, committed to generating vital knowledge and developing treatments for chronic and costly diseases, ultimately improving patient care and health outcomes nationwide.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

YKT6 gene variants cause a new genetic disorder finds a new study

2024-04-02

A recent collaborative study has discovered rare variants in the YKT6 gene as the cause of a new neurological disorder characterized by developmental delays along with severe progressive liver disease and a potential risk for liver cancer. The study, published in Genetics in Medicine, was led by Dr. Hugo Bellen, Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and Principal Investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Wendy Chung, the Chief of the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s ...

Australia on track for unprecedented, decades-long megadroughts

2024-04-02

Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modelling from The Australian National University (ANU) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. The researchers’ bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on the climate since the Industrial Revolution. The ANU-led team also found that 20th century droughts in southwestern and eastern Australia, including the Murray-Darling Basin, were longer on average compared to pre-industrial times. According to the scientists, the findings paint a worrying picture of future droughts in Australia that are far worse than anything in recent experience. Megadroughts are exceptionally ...

Dilling named associate laboratory director for neutron sciences at ORNL

2024-04-02

Jens Dilling has been named associate laboratory director for the Neutron Sciences Directorate, or NScD, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective April 1. “ORNL pioneered neutron scattering in the 1940s, developing a new technique that enables scientists to explore and create new materials, batteries and more,” ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer said. “Today, ORNL remains at the forefront of this science, and Jens will play a critical role in ensuring the nation's ...

UC San Diego receives $6.7M to develop whole-body inflammation imaging

2024-04-02

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have been awarded two new grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), totaling $6.7 million, to develop and clinically test technologies that can noninvasively examine and quantify immune cells found in tumors. These immune cells, called macrophages, are involved in the body’s normal inflammatory responses, but they also make up a significant portion of solid tumors. The density of macrophages in a tumor can affect how it responds to treatment, so the ability to count them noninvasively could help doctors decide which therapies ...

Health care utilization is increased in high-risk children who have a sleep disorder

2024-04-01

DARIEN, IL – The risk of increased health care utilization among children with a chronic medical condition is higher for those who also have a sleep disorder, according to a new study that examined Medicaid claims data. The study found that among children who had a chronic medical condition, those who also had a diagnosed sleep disorder were nearly two times more likely to have increased health care utilization (odds ratio = 1.83) than those who had no sleep disorder. The most common sleep disorder diagnosis was sleep-disordered breathing, which was present in 1,796 children. ...

More than 18,000 excess TB cases in the U.S. attributable to structural racism

2024-04-01

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 1 April 2024    Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet     @Annalsofim    Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only ...

Rice’s Mark Torres wins NSF CAREER Award to examine river water chemistry

2024-04-01

Mark Torres, assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University, has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to unlock new insights in river water chemistry, including its implications for addressing environmental concerns. Torres’ five-year, $612,930 grant is to develop innovative approaches for analyzing variations in river water chemistry. He will lead a research team to shed light on the interplay between water flow and chemical reactions to better understand the effects of climate change on water resources. “The chemistry ...

Texas Tech researcher part of breakthrough findings

2024-04-01

For Tom Maccarone, the universe really is his laboratory. “I am drawn to the idea of things going on where there are conditions you have little or no hope of reproducing in a lab,” said Maccarone, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas Tech University. “It gives you a way to do the most exotic physics experiments without having to build a giant laboratory. I am also drawn to problems where we still don’t really know anything.” Maccarone recently enjoyed the best of both ...

Rapid rise seen in mental health diagnosis and care during and after pregnancy

2024-04-01

Mental health issues during pregnancy or the first year of parenthood have a much greater chance of getting detected and treated now than just over a decade ago, a trio of new studies suggests. But the rise in diagnosis and care hasn’t happened equally across different groups and states, leaving some pregnant or postpartum individuals more likely to suffer through treatable symptoms that can put themselves and their newborn at risk. In general, the studies show rises in diagnoses of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder ...

New research highlights inequities in treatment of postpartum depressive symptoms

2024-04-01

Pregnancy and childbirth can be significant stressors on mental health. Nearly one in eight people who have given birth develop postpartum depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than just the “baby blues,” postpartum depressive symptoms can lead to adverse outcomes for birthing people and families, and treatment requires effective screening, diagnosis and management. New research from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Columbia University Mailman ...

Lundquist investigator Dr. Eiji Yoshihara awarded $3 million NIH R01 grant for diabetes stem cell therapy research

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: