Melanie Shapiro, a graduate student in the Experimental Pathology Division and Diabetes Institute at the University of Florida, was awarded $120,000 from the National Institutes of Health for a three year Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship.

Title: Roles of the Insulin-like Growth Factor Axis in Pre-Type 1 Diabetes Immune Regulation

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disorder in which impairments in immune regulation permit the destruction of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. The goals of this proposal are to evaluate whether the expression or bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors (IGF), potent immune modulating hormones, are altered in the development of T1D and to determine how IGFs may be used to resolve known T1D-associated immune regulatory deficits.

https://bruskolab.diabetes.ufl.edu/staff-profiles/graduate-students/melanie-shapiro/