DEIB - Events

Tissue-engineered platform for cell replacement and immunomodulation in autoimmune diabetes

Alice Tomei
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami
Director of Islet Immunoengineering Lab, Diabetes Research Institute

DEIB - Alario Room (second floor, building 21)
December 21st, 2017
5.00 pm

Contacts:
Alberto Redaelli

Research Line:
Biomimetics and micro-nano-technologies
Technologies for therapy

Tomei Alice abstract

Abstract

Autoimmune destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells in pancreatic islets leads to type-1 diabetes. Type-1 diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and requires blood glucose monitoring and exogenous insulin injections. Currently, there is no treatment to block beta cells destruction and prevent type-1 diabetes. Islet transplantation may cure type 1 diabetes but this procedure is currently limited by the need for lifelong chronic immunosuppression. We are developing tissue engineering platforms to block beta cell destruction before disease onset and for improving beta cell transplantation in established type-1 diabetes. Our platform integrates immunomodulatory biomaterials with cells that can dampen immune responses against beta cells and with cells that secrete insulin to regulate blood glucose. One platform exploits immunoisolating hydrogels for encapsulation of insulin-secreting cell clusters, which may allow cell transplantation without immunosuppression. We developed an encapsulation technology that allows ‘wrapping’ each individual cluster with a uniformly thin hydrogel layer. By reducing the diffusion distance 10-fold over traditional encapsulation technology, this conformal coating encapsulation maximizes nutrient transport. Another tissue-engineered platform we have developed in the lab allows exploiting the function of immunomodulatory hydrogel and of stromal cell networks in dampening the immune cells that attack beta cells. We found that a particular subpopulation of stromal cells in lymph nodes is affected in type-1 diabetes. We have developed collagen scaffolds that allows recreating stromal cell three-dimensional reticula that mimics the cell organization in lymph nodes. We will use our engineered stromal cell reticula for mechanistic studies and for transplantation therapy in type-1 diabetes. We are currently testing our tissue-engineered platforms for cell replacement and for immunomodulation in preclinical models of type-1 diabetes. This work is needed before we can test our platforms in humans.

Short Bio

Dr. Tomei is an Assistant Professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering of the University of Miami and the director of the Islet Immunoengineering Laboratory (www.tomeilab.com) at the University of Miami Diabetes Research Institute. Dr. Tomei’s background uniquely combines expertise in bioengineering and immunology and she is applying her skills to the development of novel immunoengineering platforms to prevent rejection after islet transplantation and to promote antigen-specific tolerance for a cure of type-1 diabetes. To that end, her strategy is to design and develop novel technology platforms with strong clinical translation potential that are supported by solid mechanistic studies in preclinical models of type-1 diabetes that are relevant to the human disease. Her enthusiastic commitment to type-1 diabetes cure-focused research is matched by a solid track record of academic achievements and translational efforts. She obtained her M.S. in Materials Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano. Then, she conducted her PhD work at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, under the mentorship of Dr. Melody Swartz, world leader in lymphatic and cancer mechanobiology. Then, Dr. Tomei conducted her postdoctoral fellowship at EPFL in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Hubbell, world leader in molecular engineering, and in collaboration with Dr. Cherie Stabler, a leader in diabetes bioengineering research. In 2015 Dr. Tomei accepted a tenure track faculty position in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami. Dr. Tomei has received grants as principal investigator from the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, the Iacocca Family Foundation, the the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Helmsley Trust, the Tronchetti Provera Foundation, the Children with Diabetes Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the National Institute of Health, including a recently awarded JDRF career development award. In recognition of her research productive, Dr. Tomei was recently awarded the 2016 Eliahu I. Jury Early Career Research Award for obtaining major research grants. Dr. Tomei has presented her work at several international conferences and serves as grant reviewer for the JDRF and for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). These important achievements further highlight her recognition in the field of immunoengineering for type-1 diabetes.