Diabetes Immunoengineering: An Inside Look at Dr. Alice Tomei’s Lab
Summary
- Dr. Alice Tomei of the Diabetes Research Institute is using engineering tools to answer fundamental questions about type 1 diabetes.
- Dr. Tomei is president-elect of the Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society.
- She derives inspiration from mentoring young scientists conducting diabetes research in the Islet Immunoengineering Lab.
Dr. Alice Tomei’s problem-solving mindset and fascination with medicine’s power to heal led her to a career in bioengineering, the perfect way to combine those two passions.
As principal investigator for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Islet Immunoengineering Lab, Dr. Tomei, a University of Miami associate professor of biomedical engineering and researcher at the Miller School’s Diabetes Research Institute (DRI), is using engineering tools to answer fundamental immunological questions about type 1 diabetes.
Dr. Tomei calls it “diabetes immunoengineering,” and she shares more about her work in the following interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you to come to Miami and join the Diabetes Research Institute?
The Diabetes Research Institute at the Miller School is one of the leading centers in the world for diabetes research and training. I first came here during my postdoctoral work through a collaboration between my mentor and researchers at the DRI.
What struck me right away was the unique, highly collaborative environment consisting of engineers, clinicians and scientists. All these personnel work together under one roof, with access to incredible facilities and a focus on finding a cure for diabetes. After finishing my training, I knew I wanted to stay. It was the ideal place to build my own lab and continue that mission.
What does the Tomei Lab focus on?
Our lab uses an engineering mindset to tackle key questions in immunology, especially related to type 1 diabetes. We design biomaterials that can protect therapeutic cells from immune attack or deliver drugs precisely where they’re needed, at the right place and the right dose, to reduce side effects while keeping treatments effective.
We also create materials that mimic natural environments so that cells can behave as they would in the body, which is essential for their function. Overall, our goal is to use these engineered tools both to create new therapies for type 1 diabetes and to better understand the immune mechanisms driving the disease.
How does it feel to mentor young researchers at the Tomei Lab?
I absolutely love it. It’s the best part of my job. Watching students grow into confident, skilled scientists is incredibly rewarding. Mentoring takes time and effort, but it’s worth every minute. Seeing them learn how to overcome challenges and get excited about their discoveries keeps me motivated.
Training the next generation of researchers is how we keep science moving forward and create the medical breakthroughs of tomorrow. And it’s genuinely fun. There’s nothing better than when a student comes to our weekly meeting thrilled because, after weeks of troubleshooting, their experiment finally worked.
You started your position as president-elect of the Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society. What will you do in this role and how does it feel to be elected?
The Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society is a very special community focused on regenerative surgery, turning scientific advances into real therapies for patients. Our members include surgeons, scientists and clinicians all committed to moving discoveries from the lab to the clinic. I’ve already served as a councilor, where I helped run our webinar series bringing together experts from basic and clinical science to share their work and ideas.
As president-elect, I’m excited to strengthen partnerships with other regenerative medicine societies and expand our efforts to create an inclusive environment and mentor the next generation of leaders in this fast-growing field.
What comes next for you in your career?
My main focus remains on type 1 diabetes, translating our lab’s discoveries into human cell models and, hopefully, early clinical trials. I’m also interested in developing some of our lab’s technologies into start-ups, potentially led by students or postdocs who helped build them.
Looking ahead, I plan to stay in academia, since mentoring students is truly my favorite part of the job. Over time, I’d also like to take on leadership roles that allow me to help younger faculty and foster collaboration across disciplines. I believe strongly in building bridges between fields, like immunology and engineering, and creating new training programs to prepare the next generation of scientists for that kind of cross-disciplinary work.
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