JDRF Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes
Visit the JDRF nPOD website
The Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD) program, supported by JDRF at the University of Florida, is the world’s largest open research consortium dedicated to the study of the human pancreas.
Founded in 2007, the JDRF nPOD biorepository housed at the University of Florida supports the collection of pancreata and related tissues from organ donors with type 1 diabetes (T1D) which are made available to scientific investigators around the world including in the U.S., England, Finland, Canada and Australia.
With nearly $3 million in annual program funding, nPOD researchers are conducting more than 150 studies that seek to unlock the mysteries of type 1 diabetes. Investigators hope to address the most pressing questions related to how the disease develops and progresses including, but not limited to the immunopathology of T1D, beta cell physiology and dysfunction, pancreas development, beta cell regeneration, environmental factors and medical imaging.
Thanks to nPOD, I think we’re at the precipice of being able to change much of what’s been put into textbooks and review articles on type 1 diabetes in terms of how the disease develops and what are its potential causes.”
— Mark Atkinson, Ph.D.
nPOD has three main goals:
- Obtain specimens from organ donors with T1D and establish a research resource of pancreas and disease relevant tissues (pancreatic lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, blood, and other) from organ donors with T1D, obtained at any point after clinical diagnosis, or during the prediabetes phase, when islet autoimmunity silently leads to beta cell destruction (donors identified by screening for islet autoantibodies)
- Distribute specimens to nPOD scientists anywhere in the world for comprehensive and diversified investigations of human T1D
- Promote collaboration, by using tissue and real time data-sharing, and by developing and managing synergistic project interactions as well as focused working groups, all to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of human T1D and identify new therapeutic targets
Becoming an Organ Donor
nPOD investigators are continually humbled by the decision families make to contribute to type 1 diabetes research through the gift of organ donation. While we make every effort to honor the wishes of the donor family, we cannot accept all donations. At this time, the following groups of donor gifts are of particular importance:
- Donors with longstanding type 1 diabetes
- Donors with recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes (less than seven years duration)
- Donors who are positive for type 1 diabetes autoantibodies, are between the ages of 0-30, and are not diagnosed with type 1 diabetes
For more information on organ donation and nPOD’s online donor form, visit nPOD’s donor page.
You can also email nPOD at npod@pathology.ufl.edu.
Phone: (352) 273-8277 | Toll Free: 866-731-6585
nPOD Staff
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Current nPOD Investigators at the University of Florida
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Contact Information:
For research, press and media inquiries, contact:
University of Florida, College of Medicine
1275 Center Drive, BMS Rm J586
PO Box 100275
Gainesville, FL 32610-0275
Phone: (352) 273-8277
Toll Free: 866-731-6585
Email: npod@pathology.ufl.edu