Research summary
Diabetes affects several hundred million people around the world, and is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and amputation. Dr. James Shapiro, Canada Research Chair in Transplantation Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, is focused on finding a new treatment for diabetes.
Shapiro’s current research builds on the Edmonton Protocol, a treatment where healthy islet cells are transplanted into the liver of a patient suffering from type 1 diabetes. He and his research team are conducting cutting-edge clinical trials with stem cell therapies to treat diabetes in children and adults. They are integrating innovative technologies, such as immune silencing and gene editing, to improve outcomes for those with diabetes. Shapiro has already contributed significantly to trials involving the application of ex-vivo normothermic liver perfusion in North America, and he aims to expand these trials in the future.