Dr. Shahin Raffi was recently selected as the Research Honoree at the Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) Greater New York Metro 51st Promise Gala, held Nov. 14, 2024. Dr. Raffi is working to develop an alternative method for delivering insulin-producing cells to replace the islets lost in type 1 diabetes. Current islet transplantation relies on delivery of islet cells to the liver; however, this results in a high percentage of cell loss due to inflammation and cell stress. Dr. Raffi's work aims to develop an alternative transplant site using the skin to develop a niche supportive of insulin-producing cell survival. The challenge in supporting cell survival in the skin is the lack of blood vessels and vasculature making it difficult for transplanted cells to receive nutrients and exchange oxygen.
Dr. Raffi's strategy is to leverage his extensive experience in endothelial cell biology to provide a solution. Endothelial cells are a specialized cell type that can play a supportive role in developing vasculature. The Raffi lab is developing technologies to specifically promote the survival of transplanted islets using these cells. By mimicking the endothelial cells found in the native pancreas, the specialized support cells generated in the Rafii lab may better enable transplantation into the skin and provide better longer lasting cell therapies for T1D.