[The Svedberg seminar] – Understanding and treating diabetes with stem cells islets
November 3, 2025 @ 15:15 – 16:15 CET
Maike Sander
Professor Charité in Berlin, Germany
Bio
Prof. Maike Sander’s research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the formation and function of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, aiming to develop new therapeutic approaches for diabetes. Her research combines genetic approaches in human stem cell–derived organoids with single-cell genomics to map pancreatic islet cell gene regulatory programs in health and disease.
She is a Professor at the Charité in Berlin, Germany and the scientific director of the Max Delbrück Center. Prior to this, she was a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego, where she led the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center. Her accolades include the Grodsky Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Humboldt Research Award, and the Albert Renold Prize from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the German National Academy of Sciences, EMBO, and Academia Europaea.
Understanding and treating diabetes with stem cells islets
Human pluripotent stem cell-derived islet cells offer an unlimited resource for diabetes research and cell therapy. Glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting pseudo-islets (SC-islets) have been successfully generated from stem cells and are now in clinical trials for type 1 diabetes—a major step toward therapeutic use. These SC-islets comprise insulin-secreting beta cells and other endocrine cell types found in native pancreatic islets. However, functional differences between SC-beta cells and primary human beta cells still limit their value as disease models.
To address this, my laboratory developed an islet organoid model incorporating vascular and stromal cells within a microfluidic platform containing perfused human microvessels. Vascularization enhanced SC-beta cell function, highlighting the importance of the islet niche. This advanced organoid system now serves as a powerful platform to study diabetes mechanisms and test therapeutics.
Host: Olov Andersson olov.andersson@mcb.uu.se UU
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