Translational Transplantation Therapies Research Group

Translational Transplantation Therapies Research Group, Led by Professor Wayne Hawthorne, develops cutting edge therapies to eliminate the need for insulin injections in people suffering from type 1 diabetes. While insulin injections have been the cornerstone of diabetes treatment, our research is focused on transformative approaches that offer the possibility of a permanent CURE.

Currently, one of the most promising treatments for type 1 diabetes is islet cell transplantation—where insulin-producing cells from a donor pancreas are transplanted into patients. This technique, pioneered by our group, has shown incredible outcomes for patients. However, it is limited to a select patients with a specific type of diabetes, and there are significant challenges in making this approach more widely accessible.

Our research is dedicated to expanding ISLET cell-therapies, striving to offer this potential cure to a broader population. Pioneering the use of Xenotransplantation—the transplantation of islets from genetically modified pigs—offering a potential alternative to human donor organs. Xenotransplantation holds immense promise in addressing the chronic shortage of suitable donor pancreases and could revolutionise the way we treat type 1 diabetes in the future.

Another exciting area of our work is the development of machine perfusion techniques, which enhances the preservation and viability of poor-quality donor organs, improving the success rate of transplants. This technology could play a key role in ensuring that more islets are available for transplantation and that they function better in recipients.

Our team works tirelessly to ensure that our laboratory discoveries are rapidly translated into CURES for patients. Through collaborative efforts, we are paving the way for a future where type 1 diabetes no longer defines the lives of those affected by it and provides patients a massive improvement in their quality of life.

Recent Achievements

We received a highly competitive international Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Grant entitled “Curing Diabetes using Transgenic Porcine Islet Xenotransplantation”. This highly competitive grant is to build on the decades of xenotransplantation research our group has been doing, the USA funding agency awarded us a total of $3,500,000 over 3 years.

Awarded the Faculty of Medicine and Health (FMH) / Faculty of Engineering (FE) University of Sydney, 2024 HII-S2C Grant Competition for our work entitled “Combining Dynamic Preservation and the Theragnostic Potential of Microbubbles to Improve the Assessment and Function of Marginal Kidney Grafts”. We have been awarded a total of $170,000 for this project.

Recent publications

International Standards and Guidelines for Xenotransplantation. Nature Biotechnology, 2021. 39(12): p. 1501-1502.

December 2021

Next Steps for Clinical Xenotransplantation in the United States. Ann Intern Med. 2023 Nov;176(11):1538-1539. doi: 10.7326/M23-1823. Epub 2023 Oct 31. PMID: 37903363

Xenotransplantation of Genetically Modified Neonatal Pig Islets Cures Diabetes in Baboons. Front Immunol. 2022 Jun 16;13:898948. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.898948. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35784286

October 2022

Liraglutide for the Treatment of Severe Hypoglycemia Following Total Pancreatectomy and Islet Autotransplantation. JCEM Case Rep. 2024 Oct 24;2(11):luae178. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luae178. eCollection 2024 Nov. PMID: 39450137

October 2024

Normothermic Machine Perfusion and Normothermic Regional Perfusion of DCD Kidneys Before Transplantation Transplantation. 2024.

July 2024

NAME ROLE
Dr Thanh Lee Postdoctoral Fellow
Erin Fuller Research Scientist
Evelyn Salvaris Research Scientist
Dr Chris Christou Senior Veterinarian
Dr Lauren Joo Clinical Islet Manager
Dr Mahmoud Azar Clinical Islet Manager
Dr Rajith Amaratunga PhD Student

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