Research Division

The Research Division of the Barbara Davis Center brings together the collective expertise of basic and clinical scientists in areas of Immunology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Genetics addressing fundamental questions relating to the etiology and pathogenesis of diabetes and the design of new approaches for clinical therapy and prevention of type 1 diabetes.  Research within the division is largely laboratory based and incorporated into 40,000 square feet of dedicated ‘wet-lab’ space on the third and fourth floors of the Barbara Davis Center building on the Anschutz Medical campus of the University of Colorado Denver. The modern open plan laboratories incorporate dedicated facilities for human tissue cell culture, virus propagation, advanced microscopy and flow cytometry, and a GMP facility for the generation of cellular and immunological therapeutic reagents under stringent FDA approved conditions. The research division is home to the Diabetes and Endocrine Research Center (http://www.diabetescenters.org/ and http://www.bdcderc.org), an NIH funded program that facilitates diabetes research by providing biomedical core facilities, pilot and feasibility grants, education, and training programs for faculty, research fellows, graduate, and undergraduate students. It incorporates JDRF Autoimmune Prevention Center, part of the international collaborative research network, the JDRF Autoimmunity Center Consortium. The APC supports translational diabetes research and provides additional core facilities for access to human clinical material, immunoassay, and lymphocyte phenotyping. Other international programs with which BDC researchers are affiliated are TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young), T1DGC (Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium), TRIALNET, and ITN (Immune Tolerance Network).
The research interests of current faculty can be accessed through the links below. They include studies in area of pathogenesis of Type 1 diabetes and experimental therapeutics, immunogenetics of type 1 diabetes in man, cellular and molecular biology of insulin secretion, basic mechanism of T-cell memory, and transplantation immunobiology. Recruitment efforts are currently focused on establishment of research programs in pancreatic islet development, stem cell biology, and transplantation biology.
Research Division Faculty
Clinical Division Faculty

Research Division Director:
John C. Hutton, BSc, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics