January 2024 NEWSLETTER

LATEST HIRN SCIENCE

HIRN researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan studied isolated islets and pancreatic tissue from a cohort of early-stage T2D and control donors. They found that T2D islets had impaired insulin secretion, but glucagon secretion was similar to controls. Moreover, the impaired insulin secretion persisted after transplantation into immunodeficient mice, supporting a beta cell-intrinsic defect. By using multimodal approaches including islet physiology ex vivo and in vivo, comprehensive transcriptional (gene expression) analysis, multiplex imaging, and vertical data integration techniques, they connected population-scale genetics from the UK Biobank to genomics and cellular function. Through this integration, researchers uncovered a RFX6-mediated transcriptional network enriched for T2D GWAS signals as a key event in early T2D pathogenesis, and further demonstrated a causal connection between lower levels of the transcription factor RFX6 and T2D. The datasets in the manuscript have been made publicly available and HIRN investigators are encouraged to explore them. The authors hope that this study serves as a blueprint for investigating other complex diseases or traits by taking a finding from unbiased genome-wide approaches and validating it at both single-cell and population scales. Read the official press release from Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan. The article is featured in the NIH Director’s Blog.

Manuscript information: Genetic risk converges on regulatory networks mediating early type 2 diabetes. John T Walker, Diane C Saunders, Vivek Rai, Hung-Hsin Chen, Peter Orchard, Chunhua Dai, Yasminye D Pettway, Alexander L Hopkirk, Conrad V Reihsmann, Yicheng Tao, Simin Fan, Shristi Shrestha, Arushi Varshney, Lauren E Petty, Jordan J Wright, Christa Ventresca, Samir Agarwala, Radhika Aramandla, Greg Poffenberger, Regina Jenkins, Shaojun Mei, Nathaniel J Hart, Sharon Phillips, Hakmook Kang, Dale L Greiner, Leonard D Shultz, Rita Bottino, Jie Liu, Jennifer E Below, HPAP Consortium, Stephen C J Parker, Alvin C Powers, Marcela Brissova. Nature. 2023 Dec;624(7992):621-629. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06693-2. Epub 2023 Dec 4. PMID: 38049589

TIPS FOR THE NIH DATA SHARING MANDATE

Reoccurring Series

Tip #6: Protecting Privacy

While the NIH data sharing mandate highlights the importance of publicly available scientific data, it equally highlights the importance of protecting the privacy of human participants. Note that the data sharing plan must adhere with federal regulations for the protection of human research participants. The NIH provides 6 core principles that investigators should keep in mind when developing Data Management and Sharing Plans and carrying out NIH-funded or supported research. The NIH also provides a template to guide researchers and human participants through the informed consent process. The NIH believes that following their best practices highlighted in the mandate will allow for a robust privacy process, while publicly sharing data. 

Click HERE to access the detailed best practices protocol provided by the NIH for effective strategies in order to achieve privacy protection in the context of the DMS Policy.  

NIH COMMON FUND STRATEGIC PLANNING

The NIH is conducting planning activities to inform a potential Common Fund research program called Complement Animal Research In Experimentation (Complement-ARIE). Complement-ARIE is aimed at development, standardization, validation, and use of new methods and approaches that will more accurately model human biology, known as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). These NAMs are intended to more accurately model human biology, and would complement, or in some cases, replace traditional models, transforming the way we do basic, translational, and clinical sciences. For more information click HERE.

HIRN WEBINAR SERIES

Watch for an upcoming invitation to our next HIRN Webinar on CHIB Microfluidic Devices on Tuesday, February 13^th at 1:00 pm Eastern.

UPCOMING dkNET WEBINAR

The next dkNET Webinar "An Encyclopedia of the

Adipose Tissue Secretome to identify Mediators of

Health and Disease" will be held on Friday, February 9, 2024, 11 am - 12 pm PT.

Presenters: Paul Cohen, MD, PhD, and Albert Resnick, MD, Rockefeller University



To register click HERE.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The NIH-CZI Junior Investigators Atlas Builders Meeting will be held March 17-19, 2024 at 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD and virtually. The deadline to register is February 9, 2024.

This 2-day meeting will bring together biologists, physician scientists, computational biologists, and other computational experts in the early stages of their careers. For more information click HERE.

The European Islet Study Group (EISG) meeting has been organized almost every year since 1991. After the 2023 meeting in Vancouver, the EISG will return to Europe when the meeting will be held in Helsinki, Finland, June 18-20, 2024. The meeting program will highlight important scientific developments of all aspects of pancreatic islet biology. For more information click HERE.

THE SUGAR SCIENCE: WEEK IN REVIEW (WiR)

WiR (Week in Review) is a digital newsletter that informs scientists/clinicians interested in Type 1 diabetes of key papers, events, jobs, and talks in the field every Friday distributed by thesugarscience. Click HERE to view or sign up to receive the WiR.

NIH FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

RFA-DK-23-004: Human Islet Research Network - Consortium on Modeling Autoimmune Diabetes (HIRN-CMAD) (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

• Application due date: March 20, 2024
• Foreign applications are not eligible

NOT-DK-24-001: Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Cardiovascular Repository – Type 1 Diabetes (CARE-T1D) Consortium (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

• Application due date: April 11, 2024

PAR-23-237: Enhancement and Management of Established Biomedical Data Repositories and Knowledgebases (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

• Application due date: Standard Dates

Below is a summary of the most recent job postings by category (Faculty, Research Staff/Admin, Postdoc). Visit the HIRN Website for a full listing of job opportunities.

LEADERSHIP/FACULTY

Assistant/Associate Professor

The Division of Gastroenterology in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University seeks an immunologist in pancreatic disorders to join the Division as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor in the University Tenure Line, University Medical Line, or the Non-Tenure Line (Research). The successful applicant should have experience in leading projects that characterize the immune landscape, using high end immune profiling, of either pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, diabetes, pancreatic insufficiency, or pancreas development and has a vision to partner with physicians and scientists at Stanford to make breakthroughs in focused areas in this space. Applicants for the position should send a CV and a brief letter to include an optional diversity statement HERE.

RESEARCH STAFF/ADMIN

Senior Research Investigator

Senior Investigator will lead ongoing research projects and the staff of NIH-sponsored beta-cell biology projects. Ensure the successful execution of ongoing studies, analyze the scientific results to prepare presentations and write manuscripts based on those results. Supervise existing laboratory staff, including facilitation, documentation, analysis and communication needed for ongoing laboratory work on behalf of the Principal Investigator.  For more information, please click HERE.

Postdoctoral Position

Multiple Academia Postdoctoral positions for dry (computational), wet (experimental), or hybrid biologists are available in the lab of Dr. Golnaz Vahedi at the University of Pennsylvania. The Vahedi lab is multidisciplinary, integrating cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches to develop a mechanistic understanding of cell fate determination in the immune system. Interested applicants should submit a CV to Dr. Golnaz Vahedi.

Postdoctoral Position

The Imperial College London, under the direction of Dr. Dominguez-Villar is recruiting a passionate and self-motivated postdoctoral research associate with expertise in the identification and characterization of antigen-specific T cells in humans.  The research programme led by Dr. Dominguez-Villar focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that maintain peripheral tolerance, with a particular focus on human regulatory T cell identity and plasticity and the regulation of CD4⁺ T cell responses in autoimmune and infectious disease settings. Interested Applicants for the position should send a CV, a brief statement of their research interests, and contact information with three references to Dr. Margarita Dominguez-Villar.

Postdoctoral Position

The Stitzel Lab at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, CT is recruiting a Postdoctoral Associate to join their scientific team working to understand the precise genetic mechanisms controlling pancreatic islet identity and function and identify genes and response pathways that can be therapeutically targeted to prevent islet dysfunction and enhance islet resilience. Interested applicants for the position should send a CV, a brief statement of their research interests, and contact information with three references to Miriam Ortiz. 

Postdoctoral Position

The Arvan laboratory (University of Michigan) has availability for one postdoctoral trainee in the area of pancreatic beta cell biology of the secretory pathway. The primary focus of work in the Arvan lab centers around the genes and environmental factors controlling the biogenesis and storage of insulin secretory granules, and defects in such genes/factors that contribute to the development of beta cell failure in diabetes. It is expected that the successful postdoctoral candidate for this position would have recent PhD training in cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, or related field. For more information, contact Dr. Peter Arvan, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology & Diabetes, University of Michigan, Dr. Arvan.

Postdoctoral Position

The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) at Houston, are seeking candidates who are highly motivated, detail-oriented, collaborative, and have excellent writing and verbal communication skills to join our research team. Individuals with experience in animal physiology, molecular biology, and cell biology are desired. The ideal candidates should be skilled in handling animals, mouse genetics, microscopy, and basic cell culture methods. Additional experience in transcriptomics, metabolomics, or bioinformatics is desired, but not required. To apply, please email your CV, a cover letter stating research experience and goals, along with three references to Dr. Cox.

Postdoctoral Position

The University of California, Los Angeles is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral associate interested in the interface of diabetes research and molecular imaging. This highly translatable research seeks to leverage the non-destructive, whole-body, and quantitative power of molecular imaging to directly visualize host immune-mediated rejection of allogenic β-islet grafts. The candidate is expected to lead this research initiative and deliver on research milestones described in the collaborative research initiative funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF). Candidates with experience in diabetes research interested in engaging in innovative molecular imaging or molecular imaging scientists excited to engage in research on the intersection of immunology and diabetes are strongly encouraged to apply. Interested candidates should provide a CV, cover letter, three references, and a summary of research experience to Dr. Ikotun. 

Postdoctoral Position

The Ferreira laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston, SC is seeking highly motivated and creative postdoctoral fellows interested in designing and developing engineered conventional and regulatory T cell therapies for autoimmune disease and cancer. Our research program is diverse, combining T cell biology, synthetic biology, and genome engineering approaches to study autoimmunity and cancer in immunocompetent and humanized mouse models of disease. Selected candidates will work in a collaborative and interdisciplinary team and will be encouraged to develop their own research interests. Candidates must have a PhD in biology, immunology, or a related field. Applicants for the position should send a CV, a brief statement of their research interests, and contact information for three references to Dr. Leonardo Ferreira.