Investigating beta cell survival, function, and metabolism during the pathogenesis of COVID-19

What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes? There is a direct relationship between the number of insulin-secreting cells a person has and their capacity to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. This project focuses on the effects of COVID-19 on the function, survival, and regeneration of insulin cells. We are trying to understand if having COVID-19 acutely injures insulin cells and if these cells are able to recover from COVID-19 induced injury. This information is critical to understanding if a generation of people will develop diabetes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will use experimental methods to detect insulin cell injury during COVID-19 disease. If we can detect active insulin cell injury and understand how COVID-19 is inflicting this injury, then we can devise strategies to protect insulin cells from injury or help them recover after patients have won their battle against COVID-19. If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond? Our research will provide important information about the capacity of insulin cells to function, survive, and regenerate after injury. Fundamentally, both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are the result of a decrease in the number of functioning insulin cells. The knowledge gained from these experiments can be used to devise was to protect insulin cells from injury or induce insulin cells to regenerate after injury. Why is it important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play in your research efforts? I have been involved in diabetes research for my entire professional career. Research is about making incremental insights that can add up to monumental discoveries. Diabetes is a global health issue, and is only getting worse. The fact that my research contributes fundamental insights that will lead to the monumental discovery, i.e. a cure for diabetes, keeps me motivated to work everyday. I work for my grandmother, who has diabetes. I work for my students' families who have diabetes. I work for the children seen in our clinics at CHLA who have diabetes. And I work for all of the people I don't know who have diabetes. In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going? Over the decades, there has been intense research devoted to improving the quality of life for patients who have diabetes. Medications, finger pricks, glucose monitoring, and insulin injections is a burden that patients have to manage, but these patients are living longer with a better quality of life. The future of research seeks to relieve some of those burdens by reestablishing functional insulin cells for patients. That relief may come from stem cell-based therapy, from new biologics, or developing small molecules that stimulate insulin cell regeneration. Research is not focused on how to better manage diabetes; diabetes research is focused on curing diabetes.