Optical approaches to promote pancreatic β-cell regeneration

Type 1 diabetes is caused by the loss of insulin-producing β-cells of the pancreas. This thesis explores light-based methods to promote their regeneration. Light offers many advantages over pharmacological methods as it can be delivered specifically, controlled remotely and timed with high precision. This thesis developed new methods such as illumination hardware to test multiple wavelength and intensities of light on primary pancreatic tissue, the delivery of light to the pancreas of a diabetic mouse model using wireless µLED technology, and an assay to test engineered light-controlled proteins that can be applied to drive β-cell regeneration.