Diabetes and Endocrinology

Biography

Michael Lawrence, PhD, is currently investigating mechanisms that regulate and affect pancreatic islet endocrine function in health and disease. Impairment or dysfunction of beta cells of the pancreatic islets leads to hyperglycemia and diabetes. He is identifying methods and approaches to prevent loss of pancreatic beta-cell function from metabolic and inflammatory stress to reverse and prevent diabetes. His current focus is on 1) protecting pancreatic beta cells from inflammatory and immune destruction in the pathogenesis of diabetes and in islet transplantation; 2) cell-mediated repair and restoration of islet function via pancreatic-derived mesenchymal stem cells; and 3) engineering islet endocrine tissue from islet precursor cells for islet cell transplantation. He also is actively involved in clinical islet cell isolation procedures for the islet cell transplant program at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth.

Abstract

Abstract : Targeting pancreatic beta cell-derived isletokines to improve islet cell transplantation