Dr. David Thompson

Insulin pens

B.C. researchers launching clinical trial for first genetically engineered stem cell-based therapy for type 1 diabetes

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) have received $1 million from Canada’s Stem Cell Network to conduct research and a clinical trial for one of the world’s first genetically engineered cell replacement therapies for type 1 diabetes.

May 12, 2022

Sentinel device in the Kieffer Lab.

Stem cell-based treatment produces insulin in patients with Type 1 diabetes

In the first study of its kind, a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has helped to demonstrate that a stem cell-based treatment delivered through an implantable device can produce insulin in the human body.

Dec 2, 2021

The trial could involve about 10 or more people in Vancouver with a severe form of type 1 diabetes, in which a person’s immune system attacks the pancreas, degrading or eliminating its ability to produce insulin.

Potential new diabetes treatment being tested in Vancouver

The University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health are testing a possible diabetes cure that replaces a person’s damaged pancreatic cells with new ones grown in the lab.

Jan 16, 2018