MD Student Wins Top Honours for Type 1 Diabetes Cell Therapy Research

Siyi Zhang, MD Student and diabetes researcher

When a breakthrough happens in the lab, it rarely looks like a dramatic eureka moment; it looks like data finally confirming what months of meticulous work set out to prove. For University of Alberta summer student Siyi Zhang, success meant unlocking a critical piece of the puzzle in the fight against Type 1 diabetes. Siyi’s research won her top honors at the 59th Annual Summer Students' Research Day. As one of the top two MD students selected, Siyi will represent the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) at the National Student Research Forum in Galveston, Texas, in Spring 2027.

Siyi says, “Being selected to represent the University of Alberta at the National Student Research Forum feels like an early validation that I can build a career bridging the operating room and the lab bench, and to keep pursuing addressing questions that do not have an immediate clinical answer yet.”

In plain terms, Siyi’s research examines how young pig islets mature outside the body—specifically tracking the expression of vascular, neural, and structural matrix molecules over time.

Because transplanted cells need blood vessels, nerve connections, and supportive scaffolding to thrive, understanding how they change over time may help identify how culture conditions affect the development and transplant potential of neonatal pig islets.

Siyi says, “Pigs can supply an essentially unlimited, consistent source of islets (unlike scarce human donors), but the main hurdle is ensuring these islets survive, mature, and avoid immune rejection once transplanted.” 

This success forms a vital cornerstone of the broader mission underway in Dr. Gina Rayat’s lab at the University of Alberta.

In Type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system mistakenly turns on itself, destroying the insulin-producing beta cells inside the pancreas. Without insulin, the body cannot move sugar from the bloodstream into cells for energy. While insulin injections keep patients alive, they are a lifelong balancing act, not a fix.

The ultimate goal of the Rayat lab is to eliminate the need for daily injections altogether through islet transplantation—replacing those lost insulin-producing cells with healthy ones. But two massive hurdles stand in the way: a critical shortage of human donor islets, and the recipient's immune system, which aggressively attacks any transplanted tissue as a foreign invader.

Gina’s team focuses on pioneering solutions to both challenges:

• Sourcing Alternative Cells: To solve the donor shortage, her lab investigates young pig islets (neonatal porcine islets) and stem-cell-derived cells as sustainable, scalable sources of insulin-producing tissue.
• Protecting the Graft: To prevent immune rejection, the lab researches targeted therapies—such as specialized antibody treatments and novel biomaterials—to "train" or shield the immune system so it accepts the new cells without needing harsh, lifetime immunosuppressive drugs.
• Ensuring Cell Survival: Beyond preventing rejection, her team studies the cellular mechanisms that help newly transplanted beta-cells survive, mature, and function reliably over the long term.

With Siyi’s award-winning findings strengthening their understanding of islet development and survival, every culture dish and cellular model in Gina’s lab becomes another concrete step toward a future where a single procedure can restore automatic, natural blood sugar control—offering millions living with Type 1 diabetes true freedom from the disease.