Bioartificial Pancreas

Principal Investigator: Shuvo Roy, PhD

Challenge

More than 25 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United States. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the insulin-producing beta cells in the islet cells of the pancreas are destroyed by the body's immune system. Current treatment methods are inadequate: insulin therapy is cumbersome; pancreas transplant requires an organ donor match and immunosuppressant drugs.

Solution

Silicon nanopore membranes (SNMs) developed by the Biodesign Laboratory have shown unprecedented perselectivity with great biocompatibility and durability. The bioartificial pancreas project focuses on using SNMs as immunoisolation barriers to protect transplant islets from pro-inflammatory attack.

Funding

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Development

Research stage: proof of concept

Featured Media

NIH Awards Shuvo Roy Three-Year $2.4M Grant to Develop Bioartificial Pancreas for Type 1 Diabetes - UCSF Surgical Innovations - September 29, 2017