IMSR Public Seminar: What can cells in a dish tell us about diabetes?

This talk is part of the IMSR Online Seminar Series

Diabetes is increasing in prevalence world-wide and results from complex changes in the body’s ability to produce insulin and other hormones, and to respond to these factors to control blood sugar. Insulin, and its opposing hormone glucagon, are produced by specialized cells within the pancreas called the islets of Langerhans. Professor MacDonald will discuss work from his lab that focuses on understanding the function of islet cells from human organ donors and the dysfunction in these cells that occurs in diabetes. He will touch on tissue biobanking, cellular phenotyping approaches, and recent technologies that improve our understanding of links between gene expression and cellular function.

Professor Patrick MacDonald completed his PhD in Toronto and followed this with postdoctoral research in Lund, Sweden, and in Oxford. Since 2006 he has run a laboratory at the University of Alberta in Edmonton that has focused on understanding cells in the pancreas that make insulin and other hormones.