Levine-Riggs Diabetes Research Symposium Program

NOTE: The Rachmiel Levine-Arthur Riggs Symposium will not be hosting a poster session this year.  Instead, we encourage everyone to submit an abstract for oral presentation of islet-related topics at the 2022 WRISG Meeting.  Details for abstract submission are available here.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

6 p.m.    Registration
    
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.    Epigenetics Round Table
Moderator: John Shively, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA
Moderator: David Harlan, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA

Peter Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hon), Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI
Rama Natarajan, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA
Gerd Pfeifer, Ph.D., Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI
    
7:30 p.m.    Symposium Dinner

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

7 a.m.    Registration and Breakfast
    
8 to 10 a.m.    Session 1: Epigenetics Meets Genomics: The Big Picture
Moderators: Rama Natarajan, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA, and Zhen Bouman Chen, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Liver chromatin accessibility and cardiometabolic traits
Karen Mohlke, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Epigenomic integrative analysis of aberrant transcriptional programming in chronic kidney disease
Katalin Susztak, M.D., Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Multi-omic signatures of the non-coding diabetes genome
Stephen Parker, Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of beta-cell failure in T2D
Anna Gloyn, DPhil, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
    
10 a.m.    Refreshment Break
    
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.    Session 2: GWAS/Epigenetics of T1D
Moderators: Stephen Rich, Ph.D., University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, and 
John Kaddis, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Mechanisms of gene-to-function in type 1 diabetes
Suna Onengut-Gumuscu, Ph.D., University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA

Epigenetics mechanisms underlying metabolic memory of diabetic complications in T1D
Rama Natarajan, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Genomic and epigenomic approaches for understanding islet (mis)adaptation in diabetes
Klaus Kaestner, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Genetics and genomics of type 1 diabetes risk in the pancreas
12:15 p.m.    Lunch Break
    
1:45 to 4:10 p.m.    Session 3: GWAS/Epigenetics of T2D
Moderators: Stephen Parker, Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI and Rama Natarajan, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Genetic origins of type 2 diabetes in Southwestern American Indian pedigrees
Leslie Baier, Ph.D., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Phoenix, AZ

DNA methylation patterning in beta cell development
Sangeeta Dhawan, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Human insulinomas as a human beta regenerative drug discovery datamine
Esra Karakose, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

Molecular mechanisms of T2D GWAS in pancreatic islet cell types
Michael Stitzel, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT

Enhancer-promoter interactions in human pancreas cells
H. Efsun Arda, Ph.D., NCI Center for Cancer Research, Bethesda, MD
    
4:10 p.m.    Refreshment Break
    
4:25 to 6:50 p.m.    Session 4: T1D Pathogenesis: Bench to Bedside
Moderators: Lori Sussel, Ph.D., Barbara Davis Center, Aurora, CO, and Rupangi Vasavada, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

In vivo imaging of islet autophagy
Amelia Linnemann, Ph.D., Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 

Beta cell senescence in T1D
Peter Thompson, Ph.D., University of Manitoba, Canada

Retrograde mitochondrial control of beta cell identity and maturity
Scott Soleimanpour, M.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

New adventures for old proteins in metabolic regulation
Debbie Thurmond, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Response to therapy – who benefits?
Peter Linsley, Ph.D., Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, WA

Thursday, December 1, 2022

7:30 a.m.    Registration and Breakfast
    
8 to 10 a.m.    Session 1: Developing Human Pancreas (pre and post natal)
Moderators: Sangeeta Dhawan, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA, and Ben Shih, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

ES cell and iPS cell fate decisions for generating endoderm patterning for the pancreas
Paul Gadue, Ph.D., Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 

Harnessing novel insights about human development to improve cell replacement therapy for diabetes
Julie Sneddon, Ph.D., University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Biology of pancreatic islets, development, and regulation of islet function
Marcela Brissova, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

hPSC-derived beta cells for diabetes disease modeling
Shuibing Chen, Ph.D., Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
    
10 a.m.    Refreshment Break
    
10:15 a.m.    Rachmiel Levine Award Lecture
Moderator: Fouad Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Finding a way forward despite unplanned sharp turns
David Harlan, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
    
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.    Session 2: RNA Biology in Diabetes
Moderators: Lori Sussel, Ph.D., Barbara Davis Center, Aurora, CO, and Wendong Huang, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

RNA binding proteins and RNA processing: Updates on systems biology approaches
Gene Yeo, Ph.D., University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Shedding light on the dark matter: Noncoding RNA-mediated endothelialopathy in diabetes
Zhen Bouman Chen, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Alternative splicing in diabetes: Cause or consequence
Lori Sussel, Ph.D., Barbara Davis Center, Aurora, CO

LncRNAs in glucose homeostasis and metabolic disease
Jan-Wilhem Kornfeld, Ph.D., University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
    
1 p.m.    Lunch Break
    
2:30 to 4:30 p.m.    Session 3: Functional Imaging of the Pancreas
Moderators: Mark Huising, Ph.D., University of California Davis, Davis, CA, and Debbie Thurmond, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Beta cell functional heterogeneity
Richard Benninger, Ph.D., University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO

Integrated functional imaging of islet communication
Mark Huising, Ph.D., University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Focus on the dynamics of insulin secretory granule secretion
Melkam Kebede, Ph.D., The University of Sydney, Australia

Visualization of innervation of pancreatic islets
Sarah Stanley, M.B.B.Ch., Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

4:30 p.m.    Refreshment Break
    
4:45 to 6:20 p.m.    Session 4: Functional Assessments of Stem Cell-Derived Beta Cells in Comparison to Human Beta Cells
Moderators: Charles Brenner, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA, and Ping Wang, M.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Islet transplantation/Gastrin in T1D
Fouad Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

How to create a functional human beta cell in a dish?
Jeffrey Millman, Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

FDA’s current considerations for islet cell studies
Patricia Beaston, M.D., Ph.D., Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD

Friday, December 2, 2022

6:30 a.m.    Registration and Breakfast
    
7 to 9 a.m.    Session 1: Autoimmunity of T1D
Moderators: Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, and 
Defu Zeng, Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Epigenetic profiling of immune cells in human T1D
Golnaz Vahedi, Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Autoimmunity in T1D
Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Myeloid cell function in islet autoimmunity: Gatekeepers, instigators, and peacekeepers
Rachel Friedman, Ph.D., University of Colorado, Barbara Davis Center, Aurora, CO

B cells in T1D: Identifying the elusive diabetogenic B cell and its function
Mia Smith, DVM, Ph.D., University of Colorado, Barbara Davis Center, Aurora, CO
    
9 a.m.    Refreshment Break
    
9:15 a.m.    Arthur Riggs Award Lecture
Moderator: Fouad Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Human beta cell regenerative drug discovery: A journey from impossible to possible
Andrew Stewart, M.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
    
10 to 11:15 a.m.    Debate: Current Challenges in T1D prevention
Moderator: David Harlan, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA

Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, M.D., Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany
Marian Rewers, M.D., University of Colorado, Barbara Davis Center, Aurora, CO
    
11:15 a.m.    Refreshment Break 
    
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.    Session 2: Precision Medicine in T1D: Tailoring Therapeutic Strategies to Patients
Moderators: David Harlan, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, and
Fouad Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Applying metabolic analyses to type 1 diabetes prevention efforts
Emily Sims, M.D., Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN

Immune cloaking stem cell derived beta cells for transplantation
Jon Odorico, M.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, WI

Engineering and trafficking of CAR regulatory T cells
James Riley, Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Translating Treg therapy for T1D
Qizhi Tang, Ph.D., University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA