Dan S Luciani

PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Diabetes develops when the pancreas does not release enough insulin to lower blood sugar (glucose) levels after a meal. This happens when the insulin producing ß-cells in the pancreas are defective or if the number of ß-cells is reduced. Accordingly, functional failure and ‘cellular suicide’ of ß-cells promote both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, the effectiveness of islet transplantation as a treatment for type 1 diabetes is limited by ß-cell death both before and after transplantation.

Our research group seeks to clarify the complex mechanisms that link ß-cell function, ß-cell failure and various pathways of ß-cell death. Intriguing new findings, including our own recent studies, suggest that the cellular machinery that mediates cell ‘suicide’ also has important roles in normal ß-cell function and can control if ß-cells adapt or fail during the cellular stress associated with diabetes. We study these mechanisms from the level of genetic changes to the impact of these on single cell function and the progression of diabetes. In this way we hope to identify and characterize new targets for diabetes prevention and therapy.