Contact
Research/Lab Website
Roles
Associate Professor
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Biography
Research ongoing in the Almaça’s lab focuses on understanding the role of the microvasculature in the biology of pancreatic islets. Islets are clusters of endocrine cells, scattered throughout the exocrine pancreas, which produce and secrete different hormones into the blood stream in response to changes in glucose levels. To function properly, islets need their microvasculature. Interestingly, we still know very little how vascular function is regulated in the islet and how it impacts endocrine cell responses and hormone release. We also do not know whether this “vascular control” is compromised or lost during aging (Almaça et al., 2014, PNAS) or with the development of diabetes. Research in my laboratory has been focusing on islet pericytes - the mural cells of the microcirculation (Almaça et al., 2018, Cell Metabolism). By combining intravital imaging of blood flow with ex vivo recording of vascular cell activity in living pancreas slices from animal models and organ donors at different stages of diabetes, we study pericytes’ physiological and pathophysiological functions in the pancreas (Tamayo et al., 2022, Diabetes; Mateus Gonçalves et al., 2023, Cell Reports). Ongoing projects we have in the lab aim at identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable a proper control of islet blood flow and determining whether islet vascular dysfunction contributes to diabetes pathogenesis. For more information, visit her lab website. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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Publications
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