Immunoengineered Platforms for Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract:
Immunoengineering applies quantitative problem-solving and engineering tools—such as biomaterials and cellular and protein engineering—to address complex challenges in human health that traditional biomedical science alone cannot solve. In this seminar, Dr. Tomei will present advanced immunoengineering platforms designed for targeted interventions in type 1 diabetes (T1D), focusing on two main frontiers: disease prevention via antigen-specific tolerance and safer, more effective beta-cell replacement therapies.

For T1D Prevention: Dr. Tomei will discuss the development of macroporous scaffold slices designed to harness the tolerogenic properties of lymph node fibroblastic reticular cells via transplantation in murine models. Additionally, she will show the development of decellularized lymph node scaffold sections to demonstrate that the pro-inflammatory T1D lymph node environment reprograms stromal cells into a diabetes-prone phenotype. These insights aim to inspire antigen-specific preventive approaches that avoid the risks of broad systemic immunosuppression.

For T1D Treatment: She will address the limitations of islet encapsulation in confined transplantation sites. To tackle this, she will introduce an in vitro platform built to investigate the relative contributions of direct versus indirect allorejection. Furthermore, she will present a biomaterial platform engineered with IgG-brining peptides for the sustained, localized delivery of biological drugs (such as co-stimulatory blockers and anti-inflammatory agents). This approach achieves allograft survival rates comparable to systemic drug administration while eliminating systemic spillover and avoiding the associated risks of immunodeficiency. Finally, Dr. Tomei will demonstrate the feasibility of achieving localized immunomodulation at the islet transplantation site through the co-delivery of islet-alloantigen-primed tolerogenic lymph node stromal cells. Overall, these approaches could expand the safety and clinical applicability of beta-cell replacement therapy.

Bio:
Dr. Alice Tomei is the Dr. Leonard and Diane F. Pinchuk Family Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami, with secondary appointments in Surgery, Microbiology and Immunology, and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology. She earned her M.S. in Materials Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, in 2004 and her Ph.D. in Bioengineering and Biotechnology from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, in 2008.

Dr. Tomei directs the Islet Immunoengineering Laboratory at the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI), where her research integrates bioengineering, biomaterials, and immunology to develop innovative immunoengineering strategies for localized immune modulation, improving islet transplantation outcomes and inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance as a path toward a cure for type 1 diabetes. Her research program is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Breakthrough T1D.

Dr. Tomei has trained and mentored 5 postdoctoral fellows, 15 Ph.D. students, 22 M.S. students, 34 undergraduate students, and 4 high school students in the fields of tissue engineering and immunoengineering. She has served as a standing member of the NIH BMBI Study Section and is currently President-Elect of the Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society (CTRMS).

Her contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the JDRF Career Development Award, the Eliahu I. Jury Early Career Research Award, the Alexander Orr Excellence in Teaching Award, the Young Innovator in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Award, and the Johnson A. Edosomwan Researcher of the Year Award, which she received in both 2019 and 2024.