New Paradigms for the Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

Carmella Evans-Molina, MD, PhD
Director
Indiana Diabetes Research Center)

Professor
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, IN, USA

This conference is hosted by Mathieu Ferron, PhD. This conference is part of the 2023-2024 IRCM conference calendar.

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In person: 
IRCM Auditorium
110, avenue des Pins O, H2W 1R7 Montreal

Online:
Zoom Link : https://zoom.us/j/95269762104
ID : 952 6976 2104
Code : 476372

IRCM conferences are set to occur under a hybrid format. However, please note that last-minute changes to online-only lectures may occur due to unforeseen circumstances. We invite you to visit this webpage again a few days before attending.

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About this conference

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing β cells of the pancreas, leading to hyperglycemia and metabolic dysregulation. Since the discovery of insulin over 100 years ago, T1D has evolved from a certain death sentence to a manageable chronic disease condition. However, the medical, economic, and mental health burden of disease is still pronounced. Our increased understanding of T1D disease pathogenesis has opened the door to an age of early disease identification, modification, and prevention. In my talk, I will present two vignettes from the lab that have advanced our ability to identify and modify T1D sequelae. First, we used unbiased small RNA sequencing in human islets and islet-derived extracellular vesicles to identify a signature of micro(mi)RNAs that may serve as biomarkers of T1D. Importantly, we found that a subset of these miRNAs is upregulated in the serum of children with new-onset T1D and in pancreatic sections from cadaveric donors with autoantibody positivity or T1D. Second, we showed that pharmacological inhibition of tyrosine protein-kinase 2 (TYK2), a downstream mediator of IFNα signalling, decreases pancreatic islet inflammation and delays disease onset in two preclinical mouse models of T1D. These findings indicate that inhibition of TYK2 signaling could have efficacy for the prevention of T1D in at-risk individuals or the treatment of those with new-onset disease. I will conclude my talk by sharing my vision for the future of diabetes care, where multiple biomarkers of β cell stress may be combined with additional immune and metabolic biomarkers to better predict disease risk and to improve therapies to prevent or delay T1D development.

About Carmella Evans-Molina

Dr. Carmella Evans-Molina is a Physician-Scientist at the Indiana University School of Medicine with subspecialty training in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism. The goal of her basic science research program is to define the molecular and inflammatory etiologies of β cell dysfunction in type 1 and type 2 diabetes with a thematic focus on the role and regulation of calcium within the β cell secretory pathway. To support this work, her lab has developed expertise in a cadre of methods focused on quantifying and imaging β cell health and function, including measurement of insulin production and secretion, assessment of β cell calcium regulation at the organelle level, assessment of β cell specific transcriptional networks and stress signaling pathways, and whole-animal based physiologic investigation. This work is complimented by her role as Director of the NIH-funded Indiana Diabetes Research Center Islet and Physiology Core. In addition to this basic research focus, her team has a translational/clinical interest in defining the natural history of β cell loss in Type 1 diabetes and “omics” approaches to identify novel serum biomarkers of early β cell stress in pre-symptomatic Type 1 diabetes.

This conference is the closing keynote lecture of the 2023 National Meeting of the Canadian Islet Research and Training Network (CIRTN).

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