Keynote Speaker

Lori Sussel is the Research Director of the Barbara Davis Diabetes Center (BDC) and Director of the NIDDK-funded University of Colorado Diabetes Research Center. She received her graduate degree from Columbia University Medical School and pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research program involves two major areas of study. One aspect of her research is to understand the biology underlying pancreatic islet cell development and function. These studies have contributed to the ability to grow human islet cells in a dish for cell replacement therapy in type 1 diabetes (T1D). The second aspect of her research is to understand why the immune system targets the insulin producing beta cells within the pancreas with hopes that this knowledge will help prevent disease initiation or protect the beta cells after disease onset. As BDC Research Director, Professor Sussel has also established an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research division focusing on all aspects of T1D research and discovery.