Clive H Wasserfall,

Dr Clive Wasserfall trained in clinical laboratory medicine in South Africa prior to pursuing graduate studies in the USA (MS Clinical Chemistry) and Germany (PhD Immunology). My laboratory focus is on the immunopathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Aspects of this work include refining prediction of disease onset/progression through the use of genetic, serologic and autoantibody assessment. The mechanism of disease is explored on the cellular and molecular level to better understand the pathogenesis of this disease and thereby lead to the goal of our program, which is to prevent T1D in those at risk. We are currently pursuing functional aspects of genotypes that either predispose or protect individuals from T1D. These genotypes having been identified by candidate gene or genome wide association studies tend to cluster around adaptive and innate immune pathways and our hypothesis is that the innate immune system provides a favorable milieu for the specific adaptive autoimmune attack on the insulin producing beta cells. The induction of immune tolerance to the insulin secreting endocrine pancreas is the current strategy being pursued for both primary intervention of disease, reversal of disease and/or to improve islet transplantation without the need for immunosuppression in those individuals that already have T1D. Additionally our laboratory is involved in immune monitoring of human clinical trials to reverse or prevent T1D while searching for biomarkers of efficacy. Our laboratory also houses the autoantibody screening core for the JDRF network for pancreas organ donors with diabetes (nPOD) program. http://www.jdrfnpod.org/