Abstract
The JDRF nPOD organization has three goals: To establish a biobank from organ donors with T1D. To distribute tissues to nPOD investigators in support of diverse studies of human T1D. To promote collaboration and data sharing among nPOD investigators and achieve a comprehensive understanding of human T1D. The JDRF nPOD supports 71 projects in key research areas. Findings from nPOD investigators include abnormalities of self-antigen expression in the pancreatic lymph node, which could impair self-tolerance, the localization of antigen-specific autoreactive T-cells in the insulitic lesions, evidence of heterogeneity and distinct patterns of beta-cell destruction, lack of insulitis in donors with a single autoantibody, and beta-cell persistence in patients with long standing disease. Programmatic expansions will apply the nPOD model to additional areas of the diabetes spectrum, such as diabetes complications and diabetes in patients after transplantation. The JDRF nPOD is organizing working groups, which apply the concepts of real-time data sharing to accelerate the rate of discovery. The first working group is addressing viruses in diabetes. Ultimately, nPOD provides a scientific venue and a “cloud” environment consisting of shared tissues, data sharing and collaborative, coordinated study design developed with collective input.