Pancreatic Islet Biology

Anandwardhan A. Hardikar, Ph.D., currently leads Islet Biology and Diabetes research at the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Clinical Trials Centre, at the University of Sydney, Australia. He received his Master’s in 1996, specializing in Genetics and then a Ph.D. in Diabetes research from the University of Pune, India (December 2000). After his initial postdoctoral work (on Pdx1) at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine and then on islet xenotransplantation at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, he joined the NIDDK, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, to continue his research interests on lineage-committed pancreatic progenitor cells.  He started his own group at the National Center for Cell Science in Pune, India in 2006 and migrated to Australia towards the end of 2009. His research currently focuses on molecular biomarkers of beta cell death and type 1 diabetes progression, assessing the role of biota in diabetes,and understanding the epigenetic regulation of insulin-producing cells.

• The Pathobiology of Diabetes Mellitus.- Comparative Analysis of Islet Development.- Mathematical Modeling of Islet Generation, Degeneration and Regeneration.- Epigenetic Regulation of Islet Development and Regeneration.- Pancreatic Regeneration after Partial Pancreatectomy in Rodents.- Regulators of Beta Cell Death and Regeneration.- MicroRNAs – A Link between Type 1 Diabetes and the Environment?.- Transdifferentiation of Extra-Pancreatic Tissues for Cell Replacement Therapy for Diabetes.- Generation of Human Islet Progenitor Cells via Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition.- Viral-Mediated Gene Therapy in Generation of Insulin-Producing Cells for Treatment of Diabetes.- Regenerative Medicine: Clinical Islet Transplantation.- Beta Cell Therapies for Type 1 Diabetes.