Marcela Brissova

December 4, 2023

Study links gene network and pancreatic beta cell defects to Type 2 diabetes

A comprehensive study that integrates multiple analytic approaches has linked a regulatory gene network and functional defects in insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells to Type 2 diabetes.

By Leigh MacMillan and Jill Clendening
July 6, 2023

Yasminye Pettway selected as the 2023 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Yasminye Pettway has been selected as the 2023 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.

By Bill Snyder
Insulin in vials
May 20, 2021

Beta cell regeneration

Vanderbilt researchers dissected the complex microenvironment of the pancreatic islet to discover the signals that drive beta cell regeneration — as a possible treatment for diabetes.

By Leigh MacMillan
December 22, 2020

Pancreatlas provides access to complex images of the human pancreas

Images of cells and tissues are a critical part of biomedical research as they show which molecules or proteins are present and where these molecules are located in the tissue. Using increasingly sophisticated microscopes and imaging approaches, scientists can now look at more than 40 different molecules at once, an approach known as multi-plex imaging, where in the past they could only look at three or four molecules at a time.

By Jill Clendening
Marcela Brissova, PhD, and MD/PhD student John “Jack” Walker are part of the research team that developed a pseudoislet system for integrated studies of human islet function.
July 30, 2020

Pseudoislet system expected to advance pancreas and diabetes research

The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets — the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells — has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function.

By Jill Clendening
Raymond Blind, PhD, left, Xin Tong, PhD, Rachana Haliyur, PhD, and Marcela Brissova, PhD, are part of a research team that discovered new information about the cellular dysfunction that occurs with a rare form of diabetes.
January 17, 2019

Study points to alternate therapy for rare form of diabetes

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers say an unexpected finding during the cellular analysis of human pancreatic tissue has revealed new information about a rare type of diabetes and underscores the importance of genetic testing for some individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

By Jill Clendening