Raghu Mirmira named director of Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research

IU

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University School of Medicine will continue its nationally recognized work in the scientific discovery of innovative medical treatments and care for children with the appointment of Raghu G. Mirmira, MD, PhD, as director of the school’s Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, which is associated with Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health.Dr. Mirmira is an international leader in Type 1 diabetes research—specifically the biology of islet cells, which include the beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreases of healthy people, but are attacked by one’s own immune system in people who develop Type 1 diabetes. Amongst his many achievements, Dr. Mirmira’s research studies have led to the discovery and characterization of fast-acting insulin analogues, which are widely used by patients with diabetes today. He first came to IU in 2008, after Eli Lilly and Co. made a philanthropic gift to Riley Children’s Foundation in 2006 to establish the Eli Lilly and Co. Pediatric Diabetes Research Laboratories at Riley Hospital.
As director of the Wells Center, Dr. Mirmira will lead efforts to increase research collaboration amongst scientists and physicians to accelerate the development of new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood diseases, as well as providing an outstanding training environment for students, residents and fellows. Seven interdisciplinary working groups within the center focus on research related to asthma and allergic diseases, basic diabetes research, cardiovascular genetics, developmental cardiology, hematologic malignancies and stem cells, infectious diseases and global health, and molecular oncology and experimental therapeutics.
The new position will be an addition to Dr. Mirmira’s current roles as Eli Lilly and Co. Professor of Pediatric Diseases, director of the Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, professor of pediatrics and medicine, and adjunct professor of physiology and biochemistry at IU School of Medicine.
Dr. Mirmira said he is looking forward to leading such ...

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