Dhruvi is currently completing her honours in biomedical science as part of the Alfred Research Alliance with Monash University. During her undergraduate studies, she explored a range of novel therapeutics that aimed for long-lasting disease modification rather than superficial management of symptoms. These advances were made possible by the breakthroughs emerging from cutting-edge biomedical research.

The Epigenetics in Human Health and Disease lab is on a very similar path to this. Through epigenetic reprogramming, the lab is pioneering a novel approach to regenerate beta-like cells and restore insulin capacity in type 1 diabetes. If successful in a clinical setting, type I diabetes patients will no longer have to rely on exogenous insulin administration for survival. This motivated Dhruvi to join the team and gain more experience in this field.

Thus far, the lab has successfully regenerated insulin-producing beta-like cells from a human pancreatic ductal cell line using EZH inhibition. Although the differentiated cells adopt beta-like traits, they also retain ductal markers. Consequently, there are limitations in our understanding of a ductal cell’s differentiative capacity. Therefore, under the supervision of Professor Sam El-Osta and Dr Caroline Frørup, Dhruvi will investigate a more dynamic epigenetic profile of the human ductal cell line upon EZH inhibition. This will aid in the assessment of the molecular shift that characterises the differentiated beta-like cells, guiding the development of future strategies in this field.