Adolfo Garcia-Ocaña, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology, Ruth B. & Robert K. Lanman Endowed Chair in Gene Regulation & Drug Discovery Research
Research Area
- Pancreatic Beta-Cell Preservation
- Pancreatic Beta-Cell Regeneration
- Immune Tolerance
Academic Appointments
- Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology
Research Teams
Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology
Education & Experience
1995-1996, Master’s in Computing Analysis and Programing: Methodology, Structured Analysis, Operative Systems and Programming Languages. Tajamar Innovative Technologies Institute, Madrid, Spain
1994, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
1989-1994, Ph.D. Student, Metabolic Research Lab, Jimenez Diaz Hospital, Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, and, Department of Renal Physiology, Faculté de Medecine Xavier Bichat, Université Paris VII, Paris, France
1982-1987, B.S., Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 1996-1998, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Division of Endocrinology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
- 1996-1998, Postdoctoral Fellowship, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Brussels, Belgium
- 1995-1996, Fellowship, Alfonso Martin Escudero Foundation, Madrid, Spain, Master’s in Computing Analysis and Programming
- 1994-1996, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Metabolic Research Lab, Jimenez Diaz Hospital, Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 1993-1994, Research Fellowship for Studies Abroad, Jimenez Diaz Foundation, Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Host Academic Institution: Unité de Recherche Inserm 251 "Physiologie du tube rénal", Bichat Hospital, Paris VII University, Paris, France
- 1989-1992, Graduate Student Research Fellowship, Jimenez Diaz Foundation, Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 2023-present, Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology, and Ruth B. and Robert K. Lanman Chair in Gene Regulation & Drug Discovery Research, City of Hope, Duarte, California
- 2015-2023, Director, Human Islet & Adenovirus Core, Einstein-Sinai Diabetes Research Center, Bronx, New York
- 2012-2023, Professor of Medicine, Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Hess Center for Science and Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
- 2012-2023, Professor of Medicine with Tenure, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, Mount Sinai Clinical Diabetes Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
- 2007-2012, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology, Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2007-2012, Associate Professor of Medicine with Tenure, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2003-2007, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology, Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2001-2007, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1998-2001, Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Research
Awards & Memberships
Awards
- 2022, World expert on insulin-producing cells (currently No. 41 out of 31,022 researchers publishing on this research topic worldwide)
- 2017, Distinguished Reviewer Award for the American Diabetes Associations’ Scholarly Journals
- 2015, Best Mentor Award, Center for Excellence in Youth Education at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
- 2012, Tenure, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
- 2009, Tenure, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2004, Senior Vice Chancellor’s Research Conference Award at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2002, Junior Faculty Award, American Diabetes Association
- 1997, FAES Award on Mineral Metabolic Research, Spanish Society of Bone and Mineral Research
- 1994, Thesis Dissertation: Summa Cum Laude
- 1991, Young Investigator Award, European Renal Association-Dialysis and Transplant Association
Memberships
- 2013, Member of the Boston-Ithaca Islet Club
- 2010, Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2010-2012 Member of the Midwest Islet Club
- 1999, Member, American Diabetes Association
- 1997, Member, American Physiological Society
- 1997, Member, The Endocrine Society
Publications
- Kang R, Li Y, Rosselot C, Zhang T, Siddiq MM, Rajbhandari P, Stewart AK, Scott DK, Garcia-Ocaña A, Lu G. (2022). Single Nucleus RNA Sequencing of Human Pancreatic Islets In Vitro and In Vivo Identifies New Gene Sets and Three β-Cell Subpopulations with Different Transcriptional Profile. BioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory).
- Katz LS, Brill G, Zhang P, Kumar A, Baumel-Alterzon S, Honig LB, Gómez-Banoy N, Karakose E, Tanase M, Doridot L, Alvarsson A, Davenport B, Wang P, Lambertini L, Stanley S, Homann D, Stewart AK, Lo JT, Herman MA, . . . Scott DK. (2022). Maladaptive positive feedback production of ChREBPβ underlies glucotoxic β-cell failure. Nature Communications, 13(1).
- Patel R, Parmar N, Rathwa N, Palit SP, Li Y, Garcia-Ocaña A, Begum R. (2022). A novel therapeutic combination of sitagliptin and melatonin regenerates pancreatic β-cells in mouse and human islets. Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular cell research, 1869(8), 119263.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Katz LS, Brill G, Jean-Pierre C, Li Y, Tse I, Biswal S, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott DK. (2022). Nrf2 Regulates β-Cell Mass by Suppressing β-Cell Death and Promoting β-Cell Proliferation. Diabetes, 71(5), 989–1011.
- Wang P, Karakose E, Choleva L, Kumar K, DeVita RJ, Garcia-Ocaña A, Stewart AF. (2021). Human Beta Cell Regenerative Drug Therapy for Diabetes: Past Achievements and Future Challenges. Frontiers in endocrinology, 12, 671946.
- Kumar K, Suebsuwong C, Wang P, Garcia-Ocana A, Stewart AF, DeVita RJ. (2021). DYRK1A Inhibitors as Potential Therapeutics for β-Cell Regeneration for Diabetes. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 64(6), 2901–2922.
- Saikia M, Holter MM, Donahue LR, Lee IS, Zheng QC, Wise JL, Todero JE, Phuong DJ, Garibay D, Coch R, Sloop KW, Garcia-Ocana A, Danko CG, Cummings BP. (2021). GLP-1 receptor signaling increases PCSK1 and β cell features in human α cells. JCI insight, 6(3), e141851.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Katz LS, Brill G, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott DK. (2021). Nrf2: The Master and Captain of Beta Cell Fate. Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM, 32(1), 7–19.
- Rosselot C, Baumel-Alterzon S, Li Y, Brill G, Lambertini L, Katz LS, Lu G, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott DK. (2021). The many lives of Myc in the pancreatic β-cell. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 296, 100122.
- Alvarsson A, Jimenez-Gonzalez M, Li R, Rosselot C, Tzavaras N, Wu Z, Stewart AF, Garcia-Ocaña A, Stanley SA. (2020). A 3D atlas of the dynamic and regional variation of pancreatic innervation in diabetes. Science advances, 6(41), eaaz9124.