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  • Integrated Islet Distribution Program
    Integrated
    Islet Distribution Program    

    Providing high quality human islet distribution to the diabetes research community.

    Supported by the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research
    Administered by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
    - National Institutes of Health

    Apply for a study to receive islets, tissue and data

    Click here to download a blank application and Letter of Agreement.

    View our Investigator Brochure for detailed program and pricing information.

General Information

OverviewOverview of the program

The Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) began at City of Hope (COH) as the Islet Cell Resource in 2002, and has been operating as the IIDP since 2009, as the largest organized effort in the world to provide human islet preparations for research. Because human islet research is critical to understanding pancreatic cellular biology and the pathophysiology of diabetes, and given the substantial differences to murine islets, access to the human islets is essential to translate findings from cell lines and mouse models. Therefore, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), continues to fund the IIDP, led by Drs. Joyce C. Niland and Carmella Evans-Molina, which affords ongoing coordination, information technology, and financial infrastructure, while offering innovative new biomaterials and integrated data to advance diabetes research.

Joyce C. Niland, Ph.D., as Chair of the Department of Diabetes & Cancer Discovery Science at the Arthur Riggs Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope, with Carmella Evans-Molina, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Indiana Diabetes Research Center at Indiana University (IU), its Islet and Physiology Core, and the IU Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, serve as Principal Investigators (PIs) for this program. Each bring their own necessary expertise to this vital program; Dr. Niland with over 35 years of experience in study coordination, informatics, biostatistics, and overseeing national/international coordinating centers and Dr. Evans-Molina as a physician scientist with expertise in human islet biology, specializing in clinical diabetes. The PIs are supported by a staff that have an impressive 100+ years of experience in relevant programming, islet biology, regulatory, biostatistical and administrative expertise to assist in IIDP management.

Islet Isolation CentersIslet isolation centers affiliated with IIDP

Pivotal to IIDP’s mission is providing reliable, high quality resources to the research community from industry-leading Islet Isolation Centers (IICs). Each of the current 5 geographically diverse IICs was qualified based on: isolation team and center director credentials, working relationships with local as well as specific distant Organ Procurement Organizations with provision of consistent access to quality donor pancreata, exemplary islet isolation history, and stable recipient satisfaction.

The IIDP integrates this interactive group of IICs to maintain standardized protocols for the culture and shipping of human islets, both cultured and flash frozen, as well as non-islet pancreatic tissue. Each shipment is accompanied by comprehensive donor and isolation information, pre-shipment assessments for purity, viability, and islet quality ranking. The IIDP maintains an exclusive algorithm as part of a fair and equitable Islet Allocation System, which broadcasts the availability of human islets and non-islet pancreatic tissue from each isolation center to subscribing investigators world-wide, tracks acceptance of tissue, and maintains feedback from the recipients. More information

IIDP Phenotyping and Genotyping Initiatives

The Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) was established per NIH mandate in the summer of 2016. Through a peer-reviewed application process, the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center was selected as the program site. Since its inception, the HIPP has been directed by Dr. Marcela Brissova who is also director of the Islet Procurement and Analysis Core at the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center. The goal of this initiative is to provide standardized assessment of IIDP-contracted human islet preparations in order to understand the relationship between islet phenotypic features and key donor characteristics. Real-time and complementary data are currently available to the IIDP-affiliated Islet Isolation Centers and Investigators through the IIDP-HIPP database.

In 2020, IIDP implemented a Human Islet Genotyping Initiative (HIGI) via a subaward to Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA with Dr. Anna Gloyn, a top tier genetics collaborator with expertise in diabetes. HIGI provides raw, synthesized, and diabetic genetic risk scores for each islet isolation, which will be made available via the IIDP website data portal.

Investigators Information for investigators

The IIDP prides itself on providing excellent customer service and robust facilitation of high-level science to all approved investigators who participate in our program world-wide. IIDP has developed a custom Matching Algorithm for Islet Distribution (MAID) to provide fair and equitable human islet distribution from our contracted islet isolation centers to our subscribing investigators via our computerized Islet Allocation System.

Researchers interested in accessing islets, tissue, or data through the IIDP must complete an online application. Approved investigators are given access to the IIDP secure website and personalized pages containing details of their islet distribution records, including donor data, islet isolation information, and pre-shipment assessment results, alerts to pending offers or warnings for limited funds or missing feedback forms, and protected access to study’s financial information. More information

Our Mission

The goal of the Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) is to work with the leading islet isolation centers in the U.S. to distribute high quality human islets, associated tissues, and complementary data to the diabetes research community, in order to advance scientific discoveries and translational medicine.

Our Services

Fair and Equitable Islet Distribution

The IIDP uses a web-based optimization algorithm to match researchers with islets best suited for their studies. This allows uninterrupted islet distribution 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

Customizable Islet Demand Levels

The IIDP features a user-defined islet demand classification system which allows researchers to customize their study’s relative priority for islets as: high demand, standard demand, low demand, and on-hold.

Customizable Data Reports

Approved IIDP researchers have access to a wealth of donor and islet isolation data through the IIDP Research Data Repository (RDR). Records can be filtered and individual data points can be selected to meet the unique needs of each researcher.

Multi-Center Islet Production Expertise

Our islet production centers have decades of experience as leaders in human islet isolation and distribution. With locations across the United States, we are able to draw upon a large organ donation network.

Human Islet Genotyping Initiative

To provide a summary of the genetic characteristics of each donor, the HIGI will generate partitioned genetic risk (pGRS) scores for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. These pGRS will be visualized on the IIDP website, to provide an overview of the genetic contributions of a variety of physiological processes (e.g. islet cell, liver, adipose dysfunction) to each individual donor’s diabetes risk.

Human Islet Phenotyping Program

HIPP provides phenotypic data on islets post-shipment, received from the islet isolation centers following each isolation. These data include purity, viability and potency assessments as well as hormone content and histological analysis of total preparation for endocrine vs exocrine cells and average composition of α, β, and δ cells through standardized assays.

User Satisfaction Analyses

Quantitative and qualitative feedback is collected after every islet shipment and routinely analyzed to improve project satisfaction and success of the program .

Multi-Study Collaboration

The IIDP distribution algorithm can group multiple studies from anywhere in the world to ensure that your collaborators receive the same islet offers as you.

Standardized Packaging and Shipping

The IIDP utilizes a standardized packaging protocol which has been scientifically tested and proven to maintain islet health and quality.

Phenotyping and Genotyping Initiatives

Human Islet Phenotyping Program

The Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) of IIDP was established per NIH mandate in the summer of 2016. Through a peer-reviewed application process, the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center was selected as the program site. Since its inception, the HIPP has been directed by Dr. Marcela Brissova who is also director of the Islet Procurement and Analysis Core at the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center.

The goal of this initiative is to provide standardized assessment of IIDP-contracted human islet preparations in order to understand the relationship between islet phenotypic features and key donor characteristics. Real-time and complementary data are currently available to the IIDP-affiliated Islet Isolation Centers and Investigators through a new IIDP-HIPP database. The database was jointly built by the teams at the City of Hope and Vanderbilt, and we hope it will become a valuable resource for the larger research community to advance our understanding of human islet biology in health and disease.

Human Islet Genotyping Initiative

The Human Islet Genotyping Initiative (HIGI) is directed by Dr Anna L Gloyn of the Translational Genomics of Diabetes Lab in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine. The mission of the HIGI is to generate array-based genotype data on all islet donors to enable a summary of their genetic risk for diabetes to be displayed for users.

The team calculate the overall genetic risk for type 2 diabetes (a genetic risk score, GRS) of each donor as well as partitioned genetic risk scores (pGRS) for type 2 diabetes.

The GRS and pGRS values can be visualized on the IIDP website, enabling end users to assess the donors' genetic risk for diabetes and the contribution of different tissues (e.g. liver, adipose, islet) to an individual’s risk for type 2 diabetes

Coming soon: The HIGI is currently also generating risk scores for T1D which will be added soon along with visualization of the genetic ancestry of donors based on their genotypes. We are also working on a look up function to enable users to identify donors with particular genotypes.




Our Process

All investigators define their study’s needs by completing donor and islet profiles. Donor gender, age, BMI, and diabetes history as well as islet type, purity, viability and other factors can be modified to ensure your islet needs are met. When islets matching your criteria become available, you will be notified of the available islet offer via email and/or cell phone text messaging. You can review each offer prior to accepting or rejecting online. Islets are then sent directly to you via overnight courier from the islet isolation center that offered the islets. Following every shipment, each islet recipient has the opportunity to provide quantitative and qualitative feedback about the islets and the packaging.






Our Fun Facts


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Integrated Islet Distribution Program

IIDP Staff

The best way to reach us is to send a message to one of the following email addresses.

General inquiries about the IIDP program: iidp-email@coh.org
Payment or subscription inquiries: iidpInvoice@coh.org

We can be reached by phone at: 626-218-4008

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Joyce Niland

Joyce C. Niland, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator



 

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Carmella Evans-Molina

Carmella Evans-Molina, M.D., Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator



 

Integrated Islet Distribution Program James Cravens

James Cravens, M.P.H.

IIDP Program Manager



 

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Shaunna Spears

Shaunna Spears

IIDP Business Manager



Integrated Islet Distribution Program Barb Olack

Barbara Olack

Senior Research Coordinator



Carol Swanson

Scientific Data Curator



 

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Julie Hom

Julie Hom

Technical Project Manager



Integrated Islet Distribution Program Julie Kilburn

Julie Kilburn

Statistician



 

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Janice Sowinski

Janice Sowinski, M.S.

Consultant



 

IIDP Developers

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Jenny Chuang

Jenny Chuang

Database Administrator



 



 Heather Sibley

Heather Sibley

Software Developer



 

Integrated Islet Distribution Program Julie Yousefi

Julie Yousefi

Software Developer



 

Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) of IIDP

HIPP - Marcela Brissova, PhD

Marcela Brissova, Ph.D.

Director



 

HIPP - Amber Bradley

Amber Bradley

Project Manager, Senior Research Specialist



 

HIPP - Corey Davis

Corey Davis

Research Assistant III



 

HIPP - Diane Saunders

Diane Saunders, Ph. D.

Research Assistant Professor



 

HIPP - Radhika Aramandla

Radhika Aramandla

Senior Research Specialist



 

HIPP - Shaojun Mei

Shaojun Mei

Senior Research Specialist



 

Human Islet Genotyping Initiative (HIGI) of IIDP

HIGI - Anna Gloyn, DPhil

Anna Gloyn, DPhil

Director



 

HIGI - Varsha Rajesh

Varsha Rajesh

LSRP1



 

HIGI - Swaraj Thaman

Swaraj Thaman

LSRP1



 

HIGI - Seth Sharp

Seth Sharp, Ph.D.

Post-doc



 

HIGI - Dr. Han Sun

Han Sun, Ph.D.

Computational Biologist



 

HIGI - Dr. Alok Jha

Alok Jha, Ph.D.

Alumnus
Computational Biologist



 

Program Statistics

Since the establishment of the IIDP/ICR in 2001 COH has established an excellent track record of working collaboratively with 19 Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) Islet Isolation Centers and 283 investigators, placing over 260 million islets and supporting 289 studies, yielding 741 peer-review publications. The goal of the IIDP Coordinating Center is to provide high quality human islets to the diabetes research community and has been doing so since 2004. In 2007, the IIDP introduced an algorithm to the Islet Allocation System to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of human islets to all approved investigators.
  • Cumulative IEQs Shipped Per Year
  • Cumulative Shipments Per Year
  • Studies by Area of Research