News

UCSF Diabetes Center assistant professor Zoe Quandt MD and Melissa Lechner MD PhD, an associate professor at UCLA, have received a grant worth up to $7 million over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to launch a first-in-human clinical trial evaluating whether a drug already used to treat autoimmune diseases can prevent or reverse immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced type 1 diabetes, a rare but often permanent complication of cancer immunotherapy.

Our founding director and professor emeritus Jeff Bluestone PhD receives the UCSF Medal, which recognizes individuals whose extraordinary contributions reflect the very best of our mission to advance health for all.

The National Institute of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH NIDDK) has renewed their commitment to UCSF Diabetes Center by awarding it the Nutrition Obesity and Research Center (NORC) grant—1 of just 11 academic/medical institutions throughout the US—designed to strengthen, centralize, and accelerate nationwide research in nutritional sciences, metabolic health, and obesity by providing research infrastructure, research services, and enrichment programs.

A new study published in JCI Insight from Suneil Koliwad MD PhD and his team helps explain why non-obese people with HIV remain at elevated risk for type 2 diabetes despite effective suppression of the virus with modern medications. It marks the collective spirit of Diabetes Center, with members of Anderson, Parent, and Valdearcos labs included in the paper. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Tzield (teplizumab) injection to delay the loss of the body’s own insulin production for pediatric patients aged 8 to 17 years recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Type 1 Diabetes.

"We welcome this accelerated approval by the FDA, which recognizes the potential of Tzield to delay the progression of recently diagnosed stage 3 T1D in children aged eight to 17 years,” said the Head of Development at Sanofi, which acquired Teplizumab from Provention Bio in 2023.

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In recognition of her extraordinary scientific career and transformative contributions to immunology, Professor at Diabetes Center, Department of Surgery, Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, and Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Qizhi Tang, PhD has been named recipient of the Bluestone and Rosenkrantz Immune Tolerance Professorship in Diabetes out of the generous support of founding director Jeff Bluestone and his wife Leah Rosenkrantz.

UCSF Diabetes Center director Mark Anderson, MD, PhD, a pioneer in diabetes research and professor of Medicine at UC San Francisco, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences — one of the highest honors in American science. Since 2022, Anderson has led our center, which was recognized last year as one of the country’s premier institutions for diabetes-related research by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Nearly 40 years ago, UCSF scientists ushered in the era of type 1 diabetes prevention. UCSF Diabetes Center is now working to solve the biggest challenges standing between patients and functional cures for the disease.

This year marks our 25th Anniversary and a quarter century of science aimed at saving lives and revolutionizing what the world thought possible in diabetes prevention and care. Our director Mark Anderson sits down with senior science writer and UCSF News Laura López González to discuss what the future may hold, including a functional cure. 

Committed to nurturing the next generation of leaders in diabetes research, The American Diabetes Association (ADA) postdoc award has for decades supported outstanding researchers in their pursuit of innovative and impactful research projects. This year, two postdocs have been named recipients. Mehdi Soleymani-Goloujeh PhD, from Parent and Tang labs, and Zhuldyz Zhanzak PhD, in Anderson Lab. 

The National Institute of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH NIDDK) has named UCSF Diabetes Center a Diabetes Research Center, one of a premier group of national institutions that have established an existing base of high-quality, diabetes-related research. The Type 1 Diabetes Research Center at UCSF integrates multiple research programs in areas of islet biology, immunology, and metabolism.