Dr. Jeffrey Millman

Join our Breakthrough T1D Walk team and help create a world without type 1 diabetes (T1D). Our team is walking and raising funds to support the most promising, cutting-edge science to create a world without T1D. Join us!

The Millman Lab is proud to join the @BreakthroughT1D Walk in St. Louis on Oct 19 to support everyone living with type 1 diabetes.

🔗 Please consider donating to advance T1D research: www2.breakthrought1d.org/site/TR?fr_i...

@washumedicine.bsky.social

Overall, CVB3 sparks diverse, cell type-specific stress pathways in islets, with MIR7-3HG emerging as a regulator of infection + survival. These insights could help unravel viral contributions to T1D.

We also identified the lncRNA MIR7-3HG as a key player. Knockdown in stem cell-derived islets ↓ viral genome levels, ↓ apoptosis, and altered autophagy, suggesting new therapeutic angles.

CVB3 disrupted mitochondria differently across cell types. Beta cells had increased mitochondrial size but lose efficiency. Alpha cells had shrunken mitochondria. These are potentially protective acclimations.

Beta, alpha, and duct cells had the strongest responses. Beta and alpha cells demonstrated mitochondrial dysfunction. Duct had the strongest interferon & HLA responses. All cells had unique stress and immune signatures.

Coxsackievirus B infection invokes unique cell-type-specific responses in primary human pancreatic islets Veronese-Paniagua et al. demonstrate that coxsackievirus B3 infects all primary human islet cell types and elicits distinct cell-type-specific transcriptional and mitochondrial responses. They identif...

Out today in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social! We found that coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), associated with increased risk of #T1D, infects all human pancreas cell types, not just beta cells. Great collab w/ Hubert Tse (KUMC). Led by WashU DBBS PhD student Daniel Veronese-Paniagua www.cell.com/cell-reports...

[please retweet] I’m #hiring! The Millman Lab is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to lead an exciting new project focused on vascularized #stemcell-derived islets for #diabetes disease modeling and cell replacement therapy. Email me your CV and cover letter.

Join us for the 2025 Rachmiel Levine-Arthur Riggs Diabetes Research Symposium. We have an amazing program this year focusing on type 1 #diabetes. We have also extended the abstract submission deadline to Sept 19. Register and submit your abstract a www.levinesymposium.com

It has been a decade filled with challenges, breakthroughs, and the joy of discovery.

I cannot wait to see what the next ten years bring for my lab, my trainees, and the field of SC-islets.

Here’s to the next chapter. 🙌

I’m continually inspired by my interactions with people living with diabetes. Hearing your experiences reminds my team and me why our work matters and fuels our commitment to advancing SC-islet research. Your stories are the heart behind the science. Thank you!

I’m deeply grateful to WashU Medicine and the Division of Endocrinology for fostering an environment where collaboration and innovation thrive.

Thanks also to @breakthrought1dhq.bsky.social, NIH NIDDK, and generous philanthropic donors for supporting our work.

None of this would have been possible without the people in my lab, 41 trainees so far. Mentoring them has been a privilege, and many have gone on to accomplish great things in academia and industry. Their success is one of the most rewarding parts of my career.

SC-islets are now widely used around the world to study human development, model disease, and advance cell replacement therapies.

It has been remarkable to see this area of research explode since we reported them in 2014 to become a cornerstone of diabetes science.

The field has also made huge leaps this past decade.

Vertex reported groundbreaking clinical trial results with SC-islets, and Sana Biotechnology has successes with hypoimmune islets, showing potential for cell therapy without chronic immunosuppression.

Along the way, we developed new genetic and microenvironmental models to study pancreatic islet biology and uncovered how stem cells decide to become islets and revealed new aspects of the disease state of beta cells, guiding future therapeutic strategies.

We generated SC-islets from patients with T1D, enabling patient-specific disease modeling.

We also used gene editing to repair the Wolfram syndrome mutation in patient-derived SC-islets, a step toward precision medicine in rare forms of diabetes.

Over the past 10 years, my lab has worked to advance stem cell–derived islets (SC-islets) for diabetes research and treatment.

We created SC-islets effective in vivo, bringing us closer to a functional cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D).

A few days ago marked my 10th anniversary as a faculty member at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

I arrived in 2015 as an Assistant Professor, excited but nervous to start my own lab.

Today, I’m a Full Professor, reflecting on an incredible decade. 🧵

New application note from R&D Systems showcases efficient, reproducible generation of iPSC-derived pancreatic islets based on our 2021 Nature Protocols paper. High purity (75–80% C-peptide+/NKX6.1+) & robust glucose-stimulated insulin secretion www.rndsystems.com/resources/li... #T1D

The Heterogeneity of Type 1 Diabetes: Implications for Pathogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment—2024 Diabetes, Diabetes Care, and Diabetologia Expert Forum This article summarizes the current understanding of the heterogeneity of type 1 diabetes from a June 2024 international Expert Forum organized by the edit

I had the privilege to work with several experts in T1D as part of a June 2024 international Expert Forum at ADA organized by the editors of Diabetes, Diabetes Care, and Diabetologia to write a review article on T1D heterogeneity, check it out! diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/art...

Survival of Transplanted Allogeneic Beta Cells with No Immunosuppression | NEJM The need to suppress a patient’s immune system after the transplantation of allogeneic cells is associated with wide-ranging side effects. We report the outcomes of transplantation of genetically m...

New #diabetes publication in the NEJM. Sana Biotechnology provides evidence that gene-edited islets survive after transplantation into a patient without immunosuppressing drugs for several months www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

When you say yes to just one more committee and now you're chairing it

Meet the Researcher: Allison Kelley By Erika Brown – July 7, 2025 Research Technicians are the backbone of research laboratories. They actively participate in various projects, acquiring knowledge that they can apply in their f…

Meet Allison Kelley, a technician at WashU’s Millman Lab! A Biomedical Engineering grad from UMiami, she authored a new paper in Biotechnology & Bioengineering and is shaping her career at the intersection of science, medicine, and patent law #womeninSTEM sites.wustl.edu/millmanlab/p...

Enhancing the Potency of Growth Factor‐Mimicking Peptides via Cross‐Presentation With Integrin Ligands Growth factors enhance survival and integration of transplanted Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC), but successful supplementation often requires supraphysiological growth factor doses, risking off-targ....

Congratulations to @sydneal123.bsky.social‬
on publication of the main body of work from her PhD thesis, now out in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A! dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbm....

Stem Cell–Derived, Fully Differentiated Islets for Type 1 Diabetes | NEJM Zimislecel is an allogeneic stem cell–derived islet-cell therapy. Data on the safety and efficacy of zimislecel in persons with type 1 diabetes are needed. We conducted a phase 1–2 study of zimisle...

Big #T1D news! Vertex has published their phase 1–2 trial of stem cell-derived islets (VX880, now called zimislecel). All 12 full-dose patients had reduced insulin need, and 10 no longer require insulin injections. Major step forward to a functional cure! www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Looking forward to chairing the #ADA2025 session "Innovating Stem Cell Manufacturing and Engraftment Strategies for Cell Replacement Therapy" with many excellent speakers! Join us at 3:45p in room W196 BC.

PanKbase #ADA2025 spotlight: PI @annagloyn.bsky.social presents Sun. the 22nd at 2pm CDT. Session: Genetic Regulation of Beta-Cell Mass and Function in Humans: Lessons from GWAS and Rare Genetics. Her talk: "Integrating Multiomic Data to Understand Complex Gene Regulatory Networks in Islets"

Here at #ADA2025 in Chicago! Looking forward to learning about the latest research in diabetes and catching up with colleagues!

Will Kodner, a former summer high school student trainee, has rejoined the Millman Lab to continue his training as he prepares to begin his freshman year at WashU in the fall. Welcome back, Will!