Pedro Herrera, full professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development and in the Diabetes Centre at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, is the winner of an ERC Proof of Concept Grant awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) for his project entitled "REprogramming Pancreatic Alpha-cells for Insulin production Restoration in diabetes". Worth €150,000, this funding is designed to facilitate the transition between fundamental research results and the early stages of their commercialisation or societal application. The ERC Proof of Concept Grants programme is part of .
Pedro Herrera's group is working on the mechanisms governing the development and regeneration of the pancreas, in particular insulin-producing beta cells. By combining transgenic mouse models and human pancreatic islets, he is exploring cellular plasticity and the capacity of pancreatic cells to secrete insulin, even in the absence of functional beta cells. His research has shown that other mature endocrine cells (alpha, delta, or gamma) can then spontaneously reprogramme themselves to produce insulin, a novel discovery in mammals. This work has opened the way to new therapeutic approaches for diabetes and potentially other degenerative diseases.