Our lab uses high鈥憆esolution optical 3D imaging to better understand what happens in the pancreas in the context of diabetes.
Biosketch:
Ulf Ahlgren obtained a PhD in Medical Molecular biology at Umeå University (UmU) in 1999, focusing on transcriptional regulation of endocrine cell differentiation in the pancreas. After graduation, he obtained post-doctoral training at the Medical Research Council, Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, UK, focussing on tissue interactions during development of the spleno-pancreatic region and he also contributed to the development of a novel imaging technology, optical projection tomography (OPT), which for the first time enabled imaging of mm-cm sized specimen with high molecular specificity and resolution.
In 2002, Ulf was recruited to the Umeå Centre for Molecular Medicine (UCMM) UmU on a tenure track position, and he also received an Assistant Professorship position from the Swedish Research Council. In 2006, he became became Associate Professor (Docent) in Medical Developmental Biology. At UCMM, Ulf’s lab has further increased the capacity of the OPT imaging technology to enable imaging of intact organs from rodent disease models. Facilitated by these advances, the lab has over the years presented novel information regarding aspects of pancreas biology ranging from normal pancreatic anatomy to e.g. disturbed proliferation, destruction, neogenesis, preservation and cellar re-programming of pancreatic cell-types.
Today, the lab utilise optical 3D imaging platforms such as OPT and LSFM in combination with molecular biology techniques to better understand the human pancreatic anatomy/patophysiology. ´Recently, the lab generated the first 3D depection of an entire human pancreas at a microscopic resolution, showing that the islets of Langerhans are much more heterogenous in their composition than previously appreciated. With data fron non-diabetic pancreas as a reference, the lab currrently studies how the endocrine cells differ within the pancreas, and how they are affected in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Ulf research group has obtained funding from; the Swedish Research Council, the European Union, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (New York), the NovoNordisk foundation, the Kempe Foundations, the Diabetes Wellness Foundation, Barndiabetesfonden & Diabetesfonden.
Ask Ulf about: optical 3D imaging, pancreas anatomy and diabetes.