Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researchers Massimo Trucco, MD, and Nick Giannoukakis, PhD, observed marked amelioration of diabetes in a mouse model by a novel treatment strategy involving specific modification of the animal’s own dendritic cells, thereby reversing diabetes in animal studies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the start of a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the treatment (Phase 1 trial). The trial is expected to begin sometime this spring and will include at least 15 patients over the age of 18, with type 1 diabetes.
