Audrey Parent, PhD has joined the core faculty of Diabetes Center as an Assistant Professor, as was announced by center director Mark Anderson today. "I am thrilled for Audrey’s new appointment in the Diabetes Center," Mark said, "Dr. Parent’s research program is right at the cutting edge between immunology and stem cell biology. This is a critical area where new approaches to overcome the problems in type 1 diabetes will be developed."
She joined Diabetes Center in 2010 as a Postdoc under the mentorship of former director Matthias Hebrok, PhD and later joined Mark Anderson's lab as well. "Audrey’s collaborative nature and technical expertise is a perfect fit for our center and for moving forward with new therapeutic approaches to type 1 diabetes," Mark concluded.
Her lab's research is focused on understanding changes in immune tolerance that lead to autoimmune destruction of pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells in type 1 diabetes, combining directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cell types relevant to T1D with genome engineering approaches to model the human disease. They are also developing strategies to produce immune evasive stem cell-derived pancreatic beta cells to accelerate clinical translation of cell therapies to treat diabetes.
"Ever since I joined UCSF as a postdoc, I have enjoyed working in an environment where innovative research and collaborative projects are encouraged," said Audrey. "I’m very excited to have the opportunity to continue my research in this unique and vibrant community." Audrey obtained both her Bachelor's and PhD in Biochemistry from Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, and lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.