iReprogram Leads Michigan Diabetes Cell Initiative

iReprogram has been named lead industry partner for the Michigan Initiative to Reprogram Cells for Diabetes, a multimillion-dollar project supported by the University of Michigan Strategic Initiative Fund. The collaboration brings together seven university departments, three industry leaders and one nonprofit partner. Its work will combine mathematics, biology and computer science to develop patient-derived cell therapies for diabetes. The initiative will also test cell targets connected to diabetic kidney, cardiovascular, retinal and fibrotic diseases.

Three Research Objectives

MIRC-D will use artificial intelligence to improve predictions from iReprogram’s cell reprogramming recipe discovery engine, extend workflows across diabetes-related cell types and return experimental results to the platform for continuous optimization.

The work centers on converting a patient’s own cells into the cell types damaged by diabetes. Alongside pancreatic beta cells, researchers will validate targets linked to several diabetes-related conditions.

Dr. Ganesh S. Palapattu, Interim Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at University of Michigan, said:

“For over a century, medicine has managed diabetes rather than repaired it. Direct cell reprogramming offers a path to change that. MIRC-D brings together the U-M's multidisciplinary strength to target disease at its core. As a public institution, our commitment is to transform that science into real solutions for patients, starting with diabetes and scaling to other chronic human diseases globally.”

Cell Reprogramming Platform

The initiative will use iReprogram’s Data-Guided Control platform to predict the timing, dosage and transcription factors required to change cell identities. Its Gold Standard Workflow is designed to validate those predictions at scale and feed experimental data back into the platform.

Pradeep Seneviratne, CEO at iReprogram, said:

“This partnership validates our vision: treating chronic disease requires addressing the root cause at the cellular level. With U-M's backing and our combined technology platform, we are shifting the paradigm from managing diabetes symptoms to actively restoring healthy cell function.”

Michigan Research Collaboration

MIRC-D brings together university departments, industry partners and a nonprofit partner to develop and validate a predictive platform for converting a patient’s own cells into the cell types diabetes damages.