Dr Ildem Akerman PhD

Ildem Akerman

Department of Metabolism and Systems Science
Associate Professor in Functional Genomics
Academic Lead, BetaCell Birmingham
Metabolism Theme Lead

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 6857
Email
i.akerman@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@IldemAkerman
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Biomedical Research
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

The Akerman group studies the gene-regulatory networks that establish and maintain pancreatic beta-cell identity in health and diabetes. The group combines human pluripotent stem cell-derived islet models with functional genomics, single-cell analysis and computational approaches to identify regulators of beta-cell differentiation, maturation and function.

Dr Akerman is Academic Lead of BetaCell Birmingham, a non-profit academic facility that produces high-quality human stem cell-derived islets for diabetes research across the UK. Her research aims to improve these cells as human experimental models, alternatives to animal-derived islets and, ultimately, as a basis for regenerative therapies for diabetes.

Qualifications

  • DPhil in Molecular Genetics, University of Oxford, 2011
  • MSc in Molecular Genetics, University of Oxford, 2003
  • BSc (highest distinction) in Genetics, University of Rochester, 2002

Biography

Dr Ildem Akerman received her DPhil in Molecular Genetics from the University of Oxford. She subsequently joined the group of Professor Jorge Ferrer at IDIBAPS in Barcelona and Imperial College London. Her postdoctoral research included pioneering work identifying long non-coding RNAs as important regulators of human pancreatic beta-cell gene expression and function. She also contributed to the identification of coding mutations in GATA6 that cause pancreatic agenesis and cis-regulatory mutations underlying neonatal diabetes, helping to demonstrate how disruption of both coding and non-coding genomic elements can cause human disease.

In 2016, she moved to the Institute of Human Genetics in Montpellier as a Laboratory of Excellence Fellow to investigate the relationship between transcription and the initiation of DNA replication.

Dr Akerman joined the University of Birmingham in 2018 as a Birmingham Fellow, establishing her independent research group within the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science. She was a Diabetes UK RD Lawrence Fellow from 2021 to 2026. She is now Associate Professor in Functional Genomics, Academic Lead of BetaCell Birmingham and Metabolism Theme Lead within the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science.

Research

Dr Akerman’s research focuses on the transcriptional and genomic mechanisms that establish pancreatic beta-cell identity and function. Her group uses human pluripotent stem-cell differentiation, genome engineering, functional genomics and single-cell approaches to investigate how transcription factors and regulatory elements control beta-cell development, maturation and responses to disease.

A major area of research is the identification of regulators that determine the efficiency and cellular composition of stem cell-derived islets. The group is particularly interested in how transcription factors influence endocrine cell specification and beta-cell function, and whether these pathways can be manipulated to produce safer, more mature and more reproducible cells.

Dr Akerman is Academic Lead of BetaCell Birmingham, an academic facility that produces and distributes human stem cell-derived pancreatic beta cells and islets to researchers across the UK. Supported by NC3Rs infrastructure funding, the facility has expanded its automated bioreactor production to provide scalable and reproducible human alternatives to animal-derived islets.

The group also investigates stem cell-based approaches to diabetes treatment, including the development of immune-evasive cells for type 1 diabetes and personalised cell-replacement approaches for cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.

Other activities

  • Metabolism Theme Lead, Department of Metabolism and Systems Science (2026–present)
  • Module Co-lead, Fundamentals in Human Genetics
  • Deputy Lead, Genomic Medicine Programme (2026–present)
  • Academic Lead, BetaCell Birmingham (2023–present)
  • Deputy Lead, Genomics Birmingham Technology Hub (2020–2023)
  • Lecturer on the MSc Bioinformatics programme
  • Mentor, HDR UK Black Internship Programme

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Piroozeh, Z, Akerman, I, Kalinina, OV, Kesselheim, S & Bazarova, A 2026, 'Interpretable prediction of DNA replication origins in S. cerevisiae using DNABERT and DNABERT-2', BMC Bioinformatics, vol. 27, no. 1, 157. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-026-06562-5

Almaghrabi, R, Alyahyawi, Y, Keane, P, Mian, SA, Habel, K, Atkinson, A, Ward, C, Bayley, R, Sargas, C, Menendez, P, Murphy, GJ, Sobahy, T, Baghdadi, MA, Flemban, AF, Kabrah, SM, Torres-Ruiz, R, Papapetrou, EP, Akerman, I, Raghavan, M, Barragan, E, Bonnet, D, Bonifer, C & Garcia, P 2025, 'A heterozygous CEBPA mutation disrupting the bZIP domain in a RUNX1 and SRSF2 mutational background causes MDS disease progression', Nature Communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 5489. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60192-8

Cuozzo, F, Viloria, K, Shilleh, AH, Nasteska, D, Frazer-Morris, C, Tong, J, Jiao, Z, Boufersaoui, A, Marzullo, B, Rosoff, DB, Smith, HR, Bonner, C, Kerr-Conte, J, Pattou, F, Nano, R, Piemonti, L, Johnson, PRV, Spiers, R, Roberts, J, Lavery, GG, Clark, A, Ceresa, CDL, Ray, DW, Hodson, L, Davies, AP, Rutter, GA, Oshima, M, Scharfmann, R, Merrins, MJ, Akerman, I, Tennant, DA, Ludwig, C & Hodson, DJ 2024, 'LDHB contributes to the regulation of lactate levels and basal insulin secretion in human pancreatic β cells', Cell Reports, vol. 43, no. 4, 114047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114047

Derelle, R, Verdonck, R, Jacob, S, Huet, M, Akerman, I, Philippe, H & Legrand, D 2024, 'The macronuclear genomic landscape within Tetrahymena thermophila', Microbial Genomics, vol. 10, no. 1, 001175. https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001175

Prorok, P, Forouzanfar, F, Murugarren, N, Peiffer, I, Charton, R, Akerman, I & Méchali, M 2023, 'Loss of Ezh2 function remodels the DNA replication initiation landscape', Cell Reports, vol. 42, no. 4, 112280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112280

Akerman, I, Maestro, MA, De Franco, E, Grau, V, Flanagan, S, Garcia-Hurtado, J, Mittler, G, Ravassard, P, Piemonti, L, Ellard, S, Hattersley, AT & Ferrer, J 2021, 'Neonatal diabetes mutations disrupt a chromatin pioneering function that activates the human insulin gene', Cell Reports, vol. 35, no. 2, 108981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108981

Nasteska, D, Fine, N, Ashford, F, Cuozzo, F, Viloria, K, Smith, G, Dahir, A, Dawson, PWJ, Lai, Y-C, Bastidas-Ponce, A, Bakhti, M, Rutter, G, Fiancette, R, Nano, R, Piemonti, L, Lickert, H, Zhou, Q, Akerman, I & Hodson, D 2021, 'PDX1LOW MAFALOW β-cells contribute to islet function and insulin release', Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, 674. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20632-z

Schiffer, L, Bossey, A, Kempegowda, P, Taylor, A, Akerman, I, Scheel-Toellner, D, Storbeck, K-H & Arlt, W 2021, 'Peripheral blood mononuclear cells preferentially activate 11-oxygenated androgens', European Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 184, no. 3, pp. 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1530/EJE-20-1077

Nasteska, D, Cuozzo, F, Viloria, K, Johnson, E, Thakker, A, Bakar, RB, Westbrook, R, Barlow, J, Hoang, M, Joseph, J, Lavery, G, Akerman, I, Cantley, J, Hodson, L, Tennant, D & Hodson, D 2021, 'Prolyl-4-hydroxylase 3 maintains β-cell glucose metabolism during fatty acid excess in mice', JCI Insight, vol. 6, no. 16, e140288. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.140288

Westgate, C, Botfield, H, Alimajstorovic, Z, Yiangou, A, Walsh, M, Smith, G, Singhal, R, Mitchell, J, Grech, O, Markey, K, Hebenstreit, D, Tennant, D, Tomlinson, J, Mollan, S, Ludwig, C, Akerman, I, Lavery, G & Sinclair, A 2021, 'Systemic and adipocyte transcriptional and metabolic dysregulation in idiopathic intracranial hypertension', JCI Insight, vol. 6, no. 10, e145346. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.145346

Akerman, I, Kasaai, B, Bazarova, A, Sang, PB, Peiffer, I, Artufel, M, Derelle, R, Smith, G, Rodriguez-Martinez, M, Romano, M, Kinet, S, Tino, P, Theillet, C, Taylor, N, Ballester, B & Méchali, M 2020, 'A predictable conserved DNA base composition signature defines human core DNA replication origins', Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, 4826 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18527-0

Viloria, KM, Nasteska, D, Briant, LJB, Heising, S, Larner, D, Fine, N, Ashford, F, Da Silva Xavier, G, Jimenez-Gonzalez, M, Hasib, A, Cuozzo, F, Manning Fox, J, MacDonald, P, Akerman, I, Lavery, G, Flaxman, C, Morgan, N, Richardson, S, Hewison, M & Hodson, D 2020, 'Vitamin-D-binding protein contributes to the maintenance of α cell function and glucagon secretion', Cell Reports, vol. 31, no. 11, 107761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107761

Bazarova, A, Nieduszynski, CA, Akerman, I & Burroughs, NJ 2019, 'Bayesian inference of origin firing time distributions, origin interference and licencing probabilities from Next Generation Sequencing data', Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 2229-2243. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz094

Bazarova, A, Nieduszynski, CA, Akerman, I & Burroughs, NJ 2019, 'Bayesian inference of origin firing time distributions, origin interference and licensing probabilities from NGS data', Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 2229–2243. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkn000

Preprint

Schiffer, L, Bossey, A, Taylor, AE, Akerman, I, Scheel-Toellner, D, Storbeck, K-H & Arlt, W 2020 'Peripheral blood mononuclear cells preferentially activate 11-oxygenated androgens'. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.08.288316

View all publications in research portal