World-renowned diabetes researcher joins Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute

An internationally known researcher is joining Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute, a part of Norton Healthcare and Norton Children’s, with the goal of curing Type 1 diabetes. Norton Healthcare and Norton Children’s announced plans to build a specialized laboratory to help him and his team carry out their groundbreaking work and become a hub for diabetes research and cell transplants.

Balamurugan N. Appakalai, Ph.D., also known as Dr. Bala, is leading research around islet cell transplants. Dr. Bala, widely considered one of the most skilled islet isolation specialists in the world, is transitioning his team and research from Nationwide Children’s in Ohio to Louisville.

“This work will impact patients locally, nationally and around the world,” Dr. Bala said. “I believe we have a real opportunity to find an eventual cure for Type 1 diabetes. My team and I look forward to what we will accomplish in the years to come.”

Islets are clusters of cells in the pancreas that help make insulin. In people with Type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks islet cells, making the body unable to produce insulin.

Thanks in part to Dr. Bala’s research, it’s now possible to replace those islet cells by taking them from a donor pancreas and transplanting them into the liver of someone with diabetes. The goal is for the healthy islets to start managing blood glucose in the recipient. With manageable blood glucose, the patient no longer needs insulin injections. However, transplanted islet cells currently don’t last a patient’s lifetime, so more research is needed to create longer-lasting transplants.

As an “isletologist” for the past 30 years, Dr. Bala’s research has focused on advancing pancreatic islet cell isolation and transplantation not only in patients with Type 1, but also for those with surgery-induced diabetes. The methods he developed have shown to improve short- and long-term outcomes in patients and have been incorporated into transplantation programs across the country.

To support Dr. Bala and his team’s efforts, Norton Healthcare and Norton Children’s will build a 1,500-square-foot lab to house an islet clinical transplant program. The lab, one of only 11 in the country, will allow the team to isolate and prepare the cells for transplant, pioneer new islet treatments and lead clinical studies. The research part of the lab is expected to be completed this fall, with the cell production space expected to open next year.

The new islet cell research program and Dr. Bala’s team were funded with grants of more than $2 million from the Norton Children’s Hospital Foundation, thanks to generous donations from the community with lead gifts from the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation and the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation.