Islet Trasplantation Program (ITP)
DIRECTOR: Lorenzo Piemonti

Co directors Paola Maffi, MD and Lorenzo Piemonti, MD



The mission of this program is to achieve long-lasting insulin independence in patients with type 1 diabetes undergoing portal vein islet transplantation. Although islet transplantation is a cure for type I diabetes with enormous potential there are some significant obstacles to its implementation on a large scale. These include low number of organ donors which yield islets of sufficient quantity and quality to actually transplant, the large number of islets required for successful transplantation, the few centers having the expertise to produce transplant quality islets, and the need to keep patients on immunosuppression which can compromise the patient’s ability to fight infection and tumors. Progress of these areas is hampered by the large number of variables that influence the outcome of islet transplantation and the limited number transplants that single centers can perform. Recognized experts in islet transplantation, immunological tolerance, liver immunopathology and non-invasive imaging have been brought together to address and modify innate and adaptive immune responses to islet transplants that together prevent lifelong persistence of functional islets within the liver. The Pancreatic Islet Transplantation program is localized inside of Diabetes Research Institute (HSR-DRI). This interdisciplinary program involves four of five basic research Units of DRI (Experimental Endocrinology Unit, Immune Tolerance Unit, Cell imaging Unit, Immunopathology Unit and Islet Processing Activity) and two of four Clinical Research Groups of DRI (Islet transplantation group, Epidemiology and Data Management group)