Professor Shareen Forbes and Dr Lisa White awarded funding for research into improving islet transplantation

To address this challenge, Professor Forbes and Dr White will investigate packaging drugs inside microparticles to protect them within the body. These drug-containing microparticles will be transplanted alongside the islets, helping to improve islet engraftment and survival, enabling the islets to manage blood sugar levels more efficiently, and make islet transplants more effective.

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Working with the transplant and diabetes teams at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, the team also aim to incorporate qualitative analysis to better understand how people who are eligible for islet cell transplantation feel about the treatment and for those people who have had an islet cell transplant, how has it affected their life. The team also plan to use artwork as a means of communicating medical information and the experiences of people living with T1D. On the 16^th July, the team met with the Centre for Precision Cell Therapy for the Liver (PRaCTicAL) to discuss patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) activities and opportunities for collaboration and engagement. By engaging people living with T1D, future therapies and the means of communicating medical information can be designed to address people’s needs and improve outcomes.