Timothy Kieffer
Timothy Kieffer’s progress in his quest to create a stem cell treatment for diabetes was included in two year-end lists for scientific achievement: it was listed as one of eight “Notable Advances” of 2014 by Nature Medicine, and as one of the top 10 “Breakthroughs of the Year” by Science.
With industry collaborators, Dr. Kieffer, a Professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences and the Department of Surgery, published a study in Nature Biochemistry in September describing a protocol to convert stem cells into insulin-producing cells.
“We are a step closer to having an unlimited supply of insulin-producing cells to treat patients with Type 1 diabetes,” Dr. Kieffer said.
The protocol transforms stem cells into insulin-secreting pancreatic cells via a cell-culture method. The cells have the capacity to rapidly reverse diabetes following transplant.
“We have not yet made fully functional cells in a dish, but we are very close,” says Kieffer. “The cells we make in the lab produce insulin, but are still immature and need the transplant host to complete the transformation into fully functioning cells.”
An important next step for UBC researchers and their industry collaborators is to determine how to prevent the insulin-producing cells from being rejected by the body.