Alexander Vlahos, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a five-year, research grant from Breakthrough T1D, the leading global type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocacy organization, to support pioneering work aimed at improving therapies for T1D. The award will support Vlahos’ project, “Rewiring Cellular Microenvironments with Synthetic Circuits for Subcutaneous Islet Transplantation,” through the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.
T1D is caused by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, requiring individuals to manage their blood glucose levels through lifelong insulin therapy. Transplanting pancreatic islets has long been investigated as a potential curative treatment, but long-lasting success in extrahepatic sites has been limited—particularly when islets are transplanted beneath the skin—due to poor blood vessel formation, immune rejection, and cellular stress following transplantation.
Vlahos’ research addresses these limitations by combining synthetic biology and tissue engineering in a new way: engineering cells to actively reshape their local environment after transplantation to make it more hospitable for the graft. Rather than relying solely on biomaterials or porous structures to support transplanted cells, the project focuses on programming the cells themselves to sense stress and respond dynamically.
At the core of the work are synthetic protein circuits, engineered molecular systems that enable cells to carry out complex, programmed behaviors. By introducing these circuits into transplanted or supportive cells, the research team aims to trigger localized signals that promote rapid blood vessel formation, enhance cell survival, and provide protection from immune attack.
He explained that the overarching goal is to transform the space beneath the skin into a biologically supportive site for islet transplantation—one that can adapt to the needs of the transplanted cells in real time.
“Due to the modular nature of our synthetic protein circuits, we can tailor the outputs accordingly, allowing us to customize the engineered cells for specific applications,” Vlahos said.
The work builds on Vlahos’ academic training and research trajectory. During his doctoral studies, he focused on tissue engineering and biomaterial-based strategies for delivering pancreatic islets beneath the skin. He later shifted fields during his postdoctoral training, developing tools in mammalian synthetic biology to program cellular behavior. This award represents a natural evolution of that work, uniting both disciplines into a single research vision.
Rather than designing static systems, the current research emphasizes responsiveness—engineering cells that can detect changing conditions such as inflammation or nutrient deprivation and adjust their behavior dynamically to support long-term engraftment.
“This project allows us to bring two fields together that have traditionally advanced in parallel,” Vlahos said. “By converging tissue engineering with synthetic biology, we can move beyond passive delivery strategies and instead create engineered cells that actively participate in their own survival and integration.”
Breakthrough T1D, dedicated to accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat T1D and its complications, selected the project for its novel approach and potential to address longstanding challenges in islet transplantation.
Vlahos emphasized that the grant represents more than financial support. He described it as a meaningful endorsement from the T1D community and a shared commitment to advancing transformative therapies.
“Support from Breakthrough T1D is an investment in a long-term vision for treating—and ultimately curing—Type 1 diabetes,” he said. “This funding gives us the opportunity to develop tools that could significantly improve the durability and effectiveness of islet transplantation.”
