ABOUT US

“When children with diabetes and their parents come here to tour the lab and I talk about the work we’re doing, I’m reminded that what we do every day has a higher meaning.”

Juan Dominguez-Bendala, Ph.D.

The Ricordi Family Endowed Chair in Type 1 Diabetes
Professor, Division of Cellular Transplantation, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery & Department of Cell and Systems Biology
Director, Pancreatic Regeneration & Stem Cell Laboratory
Diabetes Research Institute
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Dr. Domínguez-Bendala obtained a BSc in Biology at the University of Seville (Spain) in 1993 and a MSc degree from University College London (UCL) (UK) on Applied Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (1997). Guided by the late Dr. Jim McWhir, one of the creators of Dolly the sheep, he obtained a PhD in Cell Biology in 2000 at the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh, UK). He joined the DRI in 2001 and has developed the entirety of his scientific career there, first as a postdoctoral associate and then, since 2004, through the Faculty ranks.

Research Focus: Dr. Domínguez-Bendala’s research revolves around the development of regenerative strategies for T1D. Along with Dr. Pastori, he has focused on using human pancreatic slice techniques to monitor real-time human beta cell regeneration in an in vitro setting that resembles the native organ, and the first RNA analysis of the human pancreas. Collectively, these and other unpublished results support the clinical development of pharmacological agents proven to expand beta cell mass.

“When children with diabetes and their parents come to tour the lab and I talk about the work we’re doing, I’m reminded that what we do every day has a higher meaning. It’s impossible to look into their faces and not feel accountable for the hope we’re giving them. That makes us go back to work with even more purpose.”

Dr. Domínguez-Bendala has previously been an officer of the Spanish Air Force and an award-winning fiction author.