CALL FOR PROPOSALS

2022 HSCI DIABETES PROGRAM PILOT GRANTS

'Learning from cancer immunology to cure autoimmune diabetes'

AWARD AMOUNT

Up to $100,000 per year per lab for up to two years

POSTED DATE

December 6, 2021

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION

January 28, 2022

ANTICIPATED AWARD DATE

April 1, 2022

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Diabetes Program invites applications for pilot grant funding. The purpose of this call for applications is to fund innovative projects rooted in our understanding of tumor-immune interactions to avert the immune attack on pancreatic islet cells that underlies type 1 diabetes. A particular focus of the Diabetes Program lies in developing solutions that will enable the transplantation of stem cell-derived islet cells into patients with autoimmune diabetes. Approaches of interest include – but are not limited to – novel immune interventions to regulate or eliminate autoreactive T lymphocytes, interventions to modify local antigen presentation, and genetic manipulations of stem cell-derived islet cells to protect them against allo- and autoimmunity. Collaborative proposals are welcome, particulary where one of the labs has expertise in diabetes research. The HSCI diabetes Program intends to award up to two grants as a result of this call for proposals.... Read more about Call for Proposals: 2022 HSCI Diabetes Program Pilot Grants - 'Learning from cancer immunology to cure autoimmune diabetes'

Promising early results show that longstanding Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) research may have paved the way for a breakthrough treatment of Type 1 diabetes. Utilizing research from the Melton Lab, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has developed VX-880, an investigational stem cell-derived, fully differentiated pancreatic islet cell replacement therapy for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). In conjunction with immunosuppressive therapy, VX-880 produced robust restoration of islet cell function on Day 90 in the first patient in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial.... Read more about A new therapy for treating Type 1 diabetes

The JDRF Center of Excellence in New England will accelerate beta cell replacement therapy

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) co-director Douglas Melton, Ph.D., will lead a new multi-institutional center funded by JDRF to advance type 1 diabetes research. The JDRF Center of Excellence in New England will focus on the transplantation of beta cells, the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas that are attacked by the immune system during type 1 diabetes.

The center is also led by JDRF scientific staff leader Esther Latres, Ph.D. Other collaborators include...