George S. Eisenbarth, MD, PhD, Executive Director of the Barbara Davis Center, Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine & Immunology

Major research interest is the Prediction and prevention of type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus including studies of the immunogenetics of type I diabetes, focusing on the activation and natural history of specific patterns of autoimmunity in genetically susceptible individuals. Genetic characterization of individuals from three groups: 1) identical twins of patients with type I diabetes; 2) a population-based Colorado cohort (identified by cord blood screening of HLA alleles of more than 30,000 newborns); and 3) unique families with multiple generations affected by type I diabetes.

Investigation of autoimmunity in the NOD mouse model of type I diabetes of anti-insulin autoantibodies and anti-insulin islet-infiltrating T cells which have a shared T cell receptor A chain motif.

Selected Publications

Kobayashi,M.; Jasinski,J.; Liu,E.; Li,M.; Miao,D.; Zhang,L.; Yu,L.; Nakayama,M.; Eisenbarth,G.S. Conserved T cell receptor alpha-chain induces insulin autoantibodies
Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A. 105:10090-10094, 2008. PUBMED

Nakayama,M.; Beilke,J.N.; Jasinski,J.M.; Kobayashi,M.; Miao,D.; Li,M.; Coulombe,M.G.; Liu,E.; Elliott,J.F.; Gill,R.G.; Eisenbarth,G.S. Priming and effector dependence on insulin B:9-23 peptide in NOD islet autoimmunity J.Clin.Invest. 117:1835-1843, 2008.

Aly TA, Ide A, Jahromi MM, Barker JM, Fernando MS, Babu SR, Yu L, Miao D, Erlich HA, Fain PR, Barriga KJ, Norris JM, Rewers MJ, Eisenbarth GS.
Extreme genetic risk for type 1A diabetes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Sep 19;103(38):14074-9. Epub 2006 Sep 11. PUBMED

Jasinski JM, Yu L, Nakayama M, Li MM, Lipes MA, Eisenbarth GS, Liu E. Transgenic insulin (B:9-23) T-cell receptor mice develop autoimmune diabetes dependent upon RAG genotype, H-2g7 homozygosity, and insulin 2 gene knockout. Diabetes. 2006 Jul;55(7):1978-84. PUBMED

Homann D, Eisenbarth GS. An immunologic homunculus for type 1 diabetes. J Clin Invest. 2006 May;116(5):1212-5. PUBMED

Nakayama M, Abiru N, Moriyama H, Babaya N, Liu E, Miao D, Yu L, Wegmann DR, Hutton JC, Elliott JF, Eisenbarth GS. Prime role for an insulin epitope in the development of type 1 diabetes in NOD mice. Nature. 2005 May 12;435(7039):220-3. PUBMED