IMSR Public Seminar: Does dysregulated JAK/STAT signalling in pancreatic islets contribute to type 1 diabetes?

About this talk

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disorder which leads to the selective destruction of pancreatic beta-cells, and a subsequent deficiency of the hormone secreted from these cells, insulin. Despite its discovery 100 years ago, insulin remains the only effective method for patients to manage T1D, despite huge research efforts in this area. The JAK/STAT pathway (a common cellular signalling pathway) is known to contribute to the regulation of many important processes within the pancreatic beta-cell including cell viability, cell proliferation and the secretion of insulin. Importantly, drugs which target this pathway are in clinical usage for the treatment of other autoimmune diseases, for example rheumatoid arthritis. In this talk we will explore some examples of how JAK/STAT signalling becomes dysregulated during type 1 diabetes, and then examine whether drugs which target this pathway could be repurposed as an alternative treatment for the disease.  

About the speaker

Dr Mark Russell, University of Exeter, has worked in the field of pancreatic islet biology for over a decade, training in the laboratory of Professor Noel Morgan. He was appointed as a lecturer at the Exeter Medical School in 2019, and has continued to study the role of JAK/STAT signalling in healthy beta-cells, and how this is altered in disease.

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