Dr. David Redmond

Adding engineered human blood vessel-forming cells to islet transplants boosted the survival of the insulin-producing cells and reversed diabetes in a preclinical study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. 

The distinct population of endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the insulin-producing “islets” of the human pancreas have been notoriously difficult to study, but Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have now succeeded in comprehensively detailing the unique characteristics of these cells. 

Two genes working in concert sustain the integrity of healthy blood vessels, Weill Cornell Medicine investigators discovered in new research. 

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have identified a key protein that induces the program to build specialized liver blood vessels. The discovery could lead to engineered replacement hepatic tissue to treat common liver diseases.

A type of cell derived from human stem cells that has been widely used for brain research and drug development may have been leading researchers astray for years, according to a study from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center.