Etablering av kunstige biologiske systemer for bedre og mer effektiv fremstilling av endocrine progenitor celler eller insulinproduserende celler med bruk av stamcelle teknologi

Diabetes is a global chronic disease, impacting daily life and can have long term severe consequences for patients such as blindness, kidney failure, stroke, leading to premature death. Restoring the body insulin by introducing functional healthy insulin producing islets to patients is an effective solution, but donor material is limited. This project will integrate our knowledge of islet biology and differentiation pathways, together with expertise in matrices and acoustic-mechanical stimuli to develop novel differentiation protocols. By applying deep learning and modeling approaches, we will optimize these protocols to improve differentiation efficiency and functionality. Development of such model systems could enable (i) therapeutic transplantation to cure diabetes, (ii) studies of diabetes development and progression, (iii) drug-screening for more effective treatments of diabetes.