UCSF patient Ivan Barriga, recipient of two infusions of pancreatic islets — the first in January 2004 and the second in August. Read his story >>

"It's a different life without having to take insulin. It’s a miracle," Barriga says. "You can't imagine what it's like."

Patients

Patients receiving the islet cells have to take immuno-suppressive drugs to keep their bodies from rejecting the donor cells. These drugs can have significant side effects, which makes the transplantation viable only for a small percentage of diabetes patients.

The patients’ immune systems may also destroy the islet cells, just as they destroyed the body’s original cells. Currently Dr. Bluestone and others in his department are working on cellular therapies to prevent that auto-immune response from recurring.