How We Work

The goals of the nPOD project are to recover relevant tissue from our donor groups, share these gifts with approved scientific investigators who seek to prevent, reverse and ultimately cure the disease and foster collaboration amongst these investigators. In order to achieve these goals, nPOD is comprised of various committees and boards to govern its direction and feasibility. All committee and board members are prominent leaders in their respective fields.

The executive committee, comprised of leading diabetes investigators, representatives from JDRF, and members of the JDRF Lay Review Committee provides the project with overall guidance and support. The scientific direction of nPOD is overseen by an outside Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), comprised of prominent diabetes investigators across the country.

The operations for recovering, sample processing and distributing and data management of nPOD donor gifts are done through four different cores:

• The Administrative Core is located at the University of Florida.
• The Autoantibody Core is located at the University of Colorado.
• The Data Management Core is located at the City of Hope in Duarte, California.
• The Organ Processing and Pathology Core (OPPC) is located at the University of Florida.

In order to foster collaboration amongst nPOD investigators, the following committees were formed and are investigator-run:

• The Publications and Presentations Committee (PPC)
• The Tissue Prioritization Committee (TPC)
• The Technology and Scientific Collaboration Committee (TASC)

nPOD Executive Committee

The executive committee, comprised of leading diabetes investigators, representatives from JDRF, and members of the JDRF Lay Review Committee provides the project with overall guidance and support.

Member composition is currently undergoing review.

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Scientific Advisory Board

The scientific direction of nPOD is overseen by an outside Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), comprised of prominent diabetes investigators across the country.
The current members of the SAB are:

Mike Appel, PhD, National Institute of Diabetic & Digestive & Kidney Disease
Ezio Bonifacio, PhD, Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine & Bioengineering
Peter Butler, MD, University of California, Los Angeles
Ronald Gill, PhD, University of Colorado, Denver
Daniel Pipeleers, MD, PhD, Brussels Free University
Stephen Rich, MD, University of Virginia

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nPOD Administrative Core

The Administrative Core, located at the University of Florida, coordinates relationships with Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) and screening labs, which are of critical importance to organ recovery. The administrative core also coordinates investigators relations, special projects and day-to-day activities.
The current members of the nPOD administrative core are:

Mark Atkinson, PhD, nPOD Executive Director
Professor, University of Florida
(352) 273-8276
atkinson@ufl.edu

Alberto Pugliese, MD, nPOD Co-Executive Director
Professor, Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami
(305) 243-5348
APuglies@med.miami.edu

Suzanne Ball, RN, MHS
nPOD Director
(352) 273-9268
suzanneball@pathology.ufl.edu

Jayne Moraski, MS
nPOD Assistant Director, OPO and Lab relations
(352) 273-9271
jmoraski@pathology.ufl.edu

Clive Wasserfall, MS
Autoantibody QA/QC
(352) 273-9298
clive@ufl.edu

Mingder Yang, Ph.D.
nPOD Investigator Relations Coordinator
(352) 273-9296
mdyang@ufl.edu

Teresa Miller
nPOD Program Assistant
(352) 273-9295
tlmiller@ufl.edu

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nPOD Autoantibody Core

The Autoantibody Core, located at the University of Colorado, manages quality control and assurance for nPOD screening laboratories and also tests nPOD tissues for diabetes-related autoantibodies.
The current members of the autoantibody core are:

Roberto Gianani, MD, nPOD Autoantibody Core Director
Professor, University of Colorado Health Science Center
(303) 724-6842
roberto.gianani@uchsc.edu

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nPOD Data Management Core

The Data Management Core, located at the City of Hope in Duarte, California, handles all data related apsects of the project, serves as the projects interface with the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) and manages nPOD's autoantibody database.
The current members of the data management core are:

John Kaddis, Data Management Core Co-Director
City of Hope National Medical Center
(626) 256-4673 ext. 63377
jkaddis@coh.org

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nPOD Organ Processing and Pathology Core

The Organ Processing and Pathology Core (OPPC), located at the University of Florida, receives nPOD donor tissue directly from OPOs, processes the tissue, ships samples directly to investigators and stores case samples and data.
The current members of the OPPC are:

Martha Campbell-Thompson, DVM, PhD, nPOD OPPC Core Director
Professor, University of Florida
(352) 273-6129
thompmc@pathology.ufl.edu

Irina Kusmartseva, PhD, nPOD OPPC Laboratory Manager
University of Florida
(352) 273-7737
inkusmartseva@ufl.edu

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Publications and Presentations Committee

The Publications and Presentations Committee (PPC) specifies policies regarding acknowledgement to the use of nPOD materials and images in all forms of publications and presentations (manuscript, abstract, oral presentation, etc.).
The current members of the PPC are:

Desmond Schatz, MD, University of Florida
John Kaddis, PhD, City of Hope
Linda Yip, PhD, Stanford University
Sally Kent, PhD, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Patrick Rowe, PhD, University of Florida

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Tissue Prioritization Committee

The Tissue Prioritization Committee (TPC) reviews new investigator applications to determine the scientific merit and feasibility of using nPOD samples, as well as discusses changes to current investigators projects. The TPC also serves to mediate collaborations among current and new investigators.
The current members of the TPC are:

Susan Bonner-Weir, PhD, Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard University
Martha Campbell-Thompson, DVM, PhD, University of Florida
Howard Davidson, PhD, University of Colorado Health Science Center
Gun Frisk, PhD, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Roberto Gianani, MD, University of Colorado Health Science Center
Margaret Morris, PhD, Eastern Virginia Medical School
Alberto Pugliese, MD, University of Miami
Bart Roep, PhD, DM, Leiden University

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Technology and Scientific Collaboration Committee

The Technology and Scientific Collaboration Committee (TASC) works to design and implement a data sharing resource to encourage communication and collaboration among current investigators.
The current members of the TASC are:

John Kaddis, PhD, City of Hope
Christopher Rhodes, PhD, University of Chicago
Al Powers, MD, Vanderbilt University
Matthias von Herrath, MD, University of California, San Diego

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