Project Summary:
Gabriella’s work builds on research from her laboratory, which studies the contribution of the microbiome to T1D. One consistent finding in people with T1D is that they have less microbiome diversity compared to healthy individuals. Interestingly, beta cell expansion (the cells responsible for insulin production and targeted by the immune system in T1D) coincides with microbiome expansion and diversification during the same timeframe in newborns. The laboratory identified a yeast species, Candida dubliniensis (C. dub), that appears to stimulate Beta cell expansion in postnatal mice. They found that treating mouse models of diabetes with C. dub was sufficient to improve blood glucose regulation. Gabriella’s mission is to uncover what unique feature of C. dub induces these changes and the mechanism by which C. dub could be preventative or therapeutic for T1D.
