<< TIREX Researchers Receive TUBITAK 1001 Grant for Their Diabetes Research >>
March 29, 2023
TIREX researchers Soner Gündemir, Sebahat Akgül, Caner Süsal and Emre Arpalı (lead investigator of the project) received 1.25 million TL funding from TUBITAK for their diabetes research. Diabetes as a global health problem affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide. The cause of diabetes is the destruction of pancreas beta cells that cannot anymore react to high blood glucose levels with sufficient production of insulin. Our research team aims to produce beta cells that are made invisible to the patient’s immune system by silencing the expression of HLA antigens since the mismatches in the HLA antigen system are the main reason for rejection of transplanted foreign tissue. It is expected that HLA-silencing would minimize the rejection of transplanted beta cells in diabetic patients, paving the way for a lasting cure.