It’s been 10 years since Rob Allen and Laura Cochran entered into a clinical trial for their Type 1 diabetes and experienced exceptional outcomes. The Emory Transplant Center celebrated their 10-year anniversary of being diabetes-free, thanks to a unique transplant of donor pancreatic islet cells.

“Through a small incision in the abdomen, we placed an IV into the vein going to the liver,” says Christian Larsen, MD, DPhil, professor of surgery in the Division of Transplantation at Emory, and dean of Emory University School of Medicine. “Then using a slow-drip method, we infused hundreds of thousands of donor islet cells into the patient. Those islets made their way from the liver to the pancreas to restore insulin production.”

Allen and Cochran both received two islet cell transplants from two different organ donors, several months apart. After one transplant, they both still needed small amounts of insulin injections. But after the second transplant, they no longer needed daily injections. And they both have been insulin free since 2004.

Click here to read the full article.