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After receiving a call from the Diabetes Research Institute’s��Clinical Cell Transplant Team, Wendy Peacock became the first patient��transplanted in DRI’s FDA-approved��Phase I/II clinical trial to test the omentum as a new implant site��for a DRI��, a bioengineered “mini-organ” that mimics the native pancreas to restore natural insulin production in people with type 1 diabetes.

In this��first-ever clinical trial, researchers will evaluate whether the omentum is a better home for the islets than the liver, the��traditional transplant site. The donor islet cells were��implanted using a biologic, fully re-absorbable scaffold technique – referred to as a��“biodegradable scaffold,” one of the DRI BioHub platforms. This scaffold is a combination of the patient’s own plasma, the liquid part of the blood that does not contain any cells, together with thrombin, a commonly-used, clinical-grade enzyme.��

The DRI’s preliminary findings have shown that islets in the omentum can survive and function long term. This clinical trial��is an important first step in identifying an optimal location in the body for a DRI BioHub.��

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