Our affiliation with Harvard Medical School gives Joslin researchers opportunities to collaborate with other investigators with complementary interests and expertise through the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Center on Immunological Tolerance in Type-1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School and the
Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
The JDRF Harvard Center opened in August 2004 under the leadership of Directors Diane J. Mathis, Ph.D., and Christophe Benoist, M.D., Ph.D., who hold the William T. Young Chair in Diabetes Research at Joslin and head Joslin's Section on Immunology and Immunogentics.
JDRF Harvard Center researchers are studying how to re-establish immune tolerance through eight research projects and three supporting cores. Along with Drs. Mathis and Benoist, two investigators from Joslin's Section on Islet Transplantation and Cell Biology—Section Head Gordon C. Weir, M.D., who holds the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation Chair at Joslin, and Investigator Myra A. Lipes, M.D.—are also members of the Center.
Diane J. Mathis, Ph.D., is also a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute's Executive Committee, and other Joslin investigators participate in various Institute activities:
- Gordon C. Weir, M.D., heads the diabetes program.
- T. Keith Blackwell, M.D., Ph.D., Head of Joslin's Section on Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, co-directs an internal stem cell seminar program.
- Christophe Benoist, M.D., Ph.D., serves on the committee that evaluates applications for cores and grants.
- Susan Bonner-Weir, Senior Investigator in Joslin's Section on Islet Transplantation and Cell Biology, heads up the membership committee.
Additionally, Amy J. Wagers, Ph.D., Principal Investigator from Joslin's Section on Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, and Rohit Kulkarni, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator from Joslin's Cellular and Molecular Physiology Section, were among 12 scientists to receive the first seed grants from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Lastly, most Joslin researchers and clinicians have academic appointments at Harvard Medical School and several are involved in Ph.D. training at the medical school.
