Mia Smith
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Microbiology & Immunology
In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the insulin-making beta cells of the pancreas, leaving the body unable to control blood sugar. T cells carry out most of the destruction, but B cells, the immune cells that make antibodies, are also essential.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
type 1 diabetes
autoimmunity
B cells
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2030
What they work on
- Determine how insulin-binding BND2 B cells escape anergy, the normal switched-off state that prevents self-attack, and become activated in young-onset type 1 diabetes.
- Determine the fate and function of insulin-binding BND2 B cells, testing whether they act as strong antigen-presenting cells that activate insulin-targeting T cells.
- Test whether the frequency of insulin-binding BND2 B cells in blood can serve as a biomarker for the development of type 1 diabetes.
More about the research
They seem to matter even more in children and young people whose disease develops early and progresses quickly. Yet little is known about which B cells are involved in young-onset disease or what they do.
Why it matters
Knowing how insulin-binding BND2 B cells drive the fast progression of young-onset type 1 diabetes could explain why the disease is more aggressive in children and young people. It could also point to age-appropriate therapeutic targets and to a blood biomarker that may help identify people developing type 1 diabetes.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Reza Abdi
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Microbiology & Immunology
Optimize the stability, binding and body distribution of nanoparticles carrying an antibody against PNAd, a molecule found only on high endothelial venules, in NOD mice that develop type 1 diabetes.
Kendra Vehik
University of South Florida, FL·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify early-life plasma microRNA signatures that predict future type 1 diabetes, using longitudinal blood samples from the TEDDY cohort of genetically at-risk children.
Taylor Triolo
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Analyze whether baseline markers of beta cell function and stress predict C-peptide preservation during the partial remission, or "honeymoon," period in patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
The school
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus: 41 labs on PI Pages, $766M a year on research, 205 research doctorates a year.
More about University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
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