JDRF was excited to be involved in the 2nd Opinion Leaders Meeting on Stem Cell Derived Beta Cells, which took place this Monday and Tuesday, May 7 to 8. This meeting is driven by the interest of the members of International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association (IPITA) in the potential to use stem cell derived beta cells and other cell sources as a potential therapy for individuals with T1D. This meeting had almost double the attendance of the original meeting held in 2014. Workshop topics included:

• Identifying challenges such as developing beta cells with full physiological function
• The role of gene engineering to modify cells for therapeutic advantage
• Developing effective approaches to escape autoimmunity and tissue rejection
• Presenting recent preclinical and clinical trial results

Julia Greenstein, Ph.D., our vice president of research strategy, chaired a session devoted to transplantation sites and delivery platforms and is on the meeting organizing committee.

“The field has come a long way since the first meeting in 2014, and exciting results from clinical trials and discovery research was shared by the presenters,” says Dr. Greenstein. “This meeting highlighted the depth of the investigators and their programs designed to address the needs of people with T1D, and it was great to hear their results and next steps. It also pointed to the variety of programs that have JDRF support to drive this area forward.”

Learn more about JDRF’s work to advance beta cell replacement therapies here.

JDRF thanks our fellow sponsors, which included IPITA, The Transplantation Society and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.