Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Arizona State University received a $742,634 Project Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), awarded May 13, 2026, with completion targeted for April 30, 2031. The research project, titled "Mechanisms of Placental Mimicry Cell Therapy," focuses on developing innovative immunoprotective strategies for stem cell-derived insulin-secreting beta cell therapies to treat type 1 diabetes. The project aims to advance macroencapsulated cell delivery methods that currently face immune rejection challenges by investigating how placental trophoblasts maintain immune tolerance toward allogeneic tissue—specifically by creating an inert cellular surface and secreting tolerogenic factors—and applying these mechanisms to protect encapsulated cell grafts from rejection.

The primary deliverables include validation of preliminary studies demonstrating that macroencapsulated tolerogenic trophoblast cell therapy can evade rejection and delay rejection of bystander macroencapsulated cell grafts in xenotransplant models. This research addresses a critical clinical translation barrier by seeking to establish synergistic immunomodulatory approaches that achieve immunological tolerance without requiring ineffective and toxic immunosuppressive drug regimens. The anticipated outcomes will expand the applicable patient pool beyond currently high-risk candidates and advance the feasibility of long-term stem cell-derived islet replacement therapies for diabetes treatment.