Albert J. Hwa, Ph.D.

Program Director: Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, & Metabolic Diseases

Basic mechanisms underlying the organogenesis and regeneration of pancreatic islets during health and disease; generation of islet cells from stem cells for disease modeling and regenerative medicine; microphysiological systems for diabetes modeling

Responsibilities & Activities

My grant portfolio includes studies that focus on the development and regeneration of the pancreatic endocrine compartment, as well as the application of this knowledge in stem cell differentiation and regenerative medicine.

In addition, I participate in the Human Islet Research Network (HIRN), which organizes and supports collaborative research related to the loss of functional beta cell mass in type 1 diabetes. My role is the project scientist for the Consortium on Human Islet Biomimetics (HIRN-CHIB). I am part of the NIH project team for the Tissue Chip 2.0 Consortium, and serve as the project scientist for the Microphysiological Systems for Modeling Diabetes (MPS-MOD).

Research Programs

Bioengineering, Biotechnology, & Imaging as applied to Diabetes, Metabolic, & Endocrine Diseases
Functional and metabolic imaging in adipose, pancreas and other metabolic organs

Endocrine Pancreas
Biology, development, and function of the endocrine pancreas and clinical studies on islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes treatment.

Last Reviewed March 2023

Select Experience

Operations Director, Center for Cell-based Therapy for Diabetes, Joslin Diabetes Center, 2016-2021

Lecturer in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 2016-2021

Director of Discovery Research, JDRF, 2014-2016

Senior Program Scientist, JDRF, 2011-2014

Ph.D. in Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006