The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has awarded Penn Medicine a $12 Million, four-year grant to establish the Human Pancreas Analysis Program (HPAP). The program will procure and phenotype pancreatic tissues for type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, or other types of pancreatic islet dysfunction characterized by changes in beta cell mass. The program will also analyze the samples, biobank the tissues, and share the multi-dimensional data results with the diabetes research community through an open-access database.  

Department faculty involved in the program are Co-PI Dr. Mike Feldman, who will lead the tissue analytics and biobanking efforts, and investigators Drs. Nina Luning Prak and Malek Kamoun, who are part of the six cores that build on Penn Medicine's existing infrastructure and scientific collaborations for the comprehensive and integrated human pancreas procurement and analysis program based at the University of Pennsylvania.
Read the Department of Communications announcement.