Two members of Tang Lab, who are at the forefront of new approaches to islet transplantation, have received JDRF fellowships designed for various points in one's career. Peng Xiao PhD has received a JDRF Postdoctoral Fellowship, designed to attract qualified, promising scientists entering their professional career in the T1D research field. For her project "Mechanisms of Parathyroid Protection of Transplanted Islets," Peng, who received her PhD from Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, investigates how the parathyroid gland protects the viability of transplanted pancreatic islet β-cells and promotes islet revascularization at the molecular level as a way to develop molecular mixtures to replace the parathyroid and ultimately to improve the efficacy of diabetes reversal after islet transplantation.
Bhushan Kharbikar PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Tang and Desai labs, has been named a recipient of the prestigious JDRF Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship. This JDRF fellowship is designed to attract qualified and promising scientists, provide an opportunity for full-time research training, and assist individuals in transitioning from a fellowship to an independent faculty-level position. A collaborative effort between Diabetes Center and Department of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Science, Kharbikar's research focuses on creating targeted drug delivery systems for immunomodulatory agents in order to establish a localized immunosuppressive environment at the transplantation site, thereby addressing immune-mediated rejection and eliminating the requirement for systemic immunosuppression. For Kharbikar, this "innovative approach aims to enable efficient islet transplantation while preserving the integrity of the recipient's immune system." He received his PhD as well as a Masters in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay.
These fellowships align with JDRF’s vision of a future without type 1 diabetes by helping scientists like him establish careers in the field of T1D research.