The Human Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes: Lessons Learned from the Network of Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes

Abstract

The Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD) has helped shape the contemporary understanding of type 1 diabetes (T1D) pathogenesis in humans through the procurement, distribution to scientists, and collaborative study of human pancreata and disease-related tissues from organ donors with T1D and islet autoantibody positivity. Since its inception in 2007, nPOD has collected tissues from 600 donors, and these resources have been distributed across 22 countries to more than 290 projects, resulting in nearly 350 publications. Research projects supported by nPOD span the breadth of diabetes research, including studies on T1D immunology and β-cell biology, and have uniquely unveiled abnormalities in other pancreatic cell types. In this article, we will detail the history and programmatic features of nPOD, as well as highlight key scientific findings from nPOD studies. We will present our view for the future of nPOD and discuss how the success of the program has established a precedent whereby knowledge gaps in biomedical research can be addressed through the study of human tissues.