Giants in Diabetes and Pancreatic Disease to Teach and Share at 3rd Cleveland Clinic Beta Cell Therapy Symposium

Progress in research, therapies and technologies for diabetes and chronic pancreatic disease management and cure are outpacing most specialists’ ability to keep up. Yet, that is all good news if you can bring the top leaders in these convergent areas together to deliver up-to-the-moment developments in each, and describe the new “state of the field.”

Cleveland Clinic hosts endocrinologist Betul Hatipoglu, MD, and transplant surgeon Kareem Abu-Elmagd, MD, PhD, have assembled an unmatched roster of experts in type-1 and type-2 diabetes and chronic pancreatitis to do just this. These leaders will interact with attendees working in organ and cell transplantation, pancreatic surgery, endocrinology, digestive disease specialties, general practice and beta-cell translational research.

The 3rd Cleveland Clinic Beta Cell Symposium will convene at Cleveland Clinic’s Administrative Campus in Beachwood, Ohio, on Nov. 9 and 10, 2018. This biennial event takes topics that might be covered separately in a diabetes summit, a transplantation conference or a genetics research meeting, and condenses them into a day and a half of focused study. “Attendees will learn about the very latest in basic science, clinical trials, state-of-the-art management and what the next steps are,” explains Dr. Abu-Elmagd.

“Attendees may be transplant surgery-oriented and others are very basic science-oriented, some are endocrinologists, some are general surgeons and others are interested in advancing specialty-related technology,” he continues. “They are each immersed in their own field and don’t always have the opportunity to tap into topics beyond its boundaries. Through this symposium, we are able to show them what is happening in tangential fields.”

What you can expect

Speaking at this year’s symposium will be a host of international experts presenting the latest findings and clinical applications in:

• Immunobiology of beta cell failure.
• Genetic diabetes.
• Islet cell therapy, gene regulation, and auto, allo and xeno (porcine) transplantation.
• Pancreas transplantation.
• In-vivo imaging.
• Novel technologies for insulin delivery.
• The impact of inflammatory response on outcome.
• Stem cell therapy.

All of the speakers are world-renowned, with most of them being past or current presidents of the most prestigious medical and surgical association in their fields. These pioneers will lead discussions on the synergies between diverse new findings and technologies, their implications for clinical practice and expected timeframes.

Drs. Hatipoglu and Abu-Elmagd expect significant announcements and updates on breakthroughs just in the past few months alone. They anticipate “very good news in stem cell therapy and research, and important findings in the pathophysiology of diabetes,” Dr. Abu-Elmagd says. “The capabilities of smart delivery systems have also reached a new apex and we are very excited to see the latest pumps.”

More than just a CME course

The symposium goes far beyond being a CME course. As important as the topics is the collaboration that defines these conferences, during and for months and years to follow. “We cannot achieve much if we are working alone. If we are offering a unique opportunity, it is mostly because people at this symposium share this spirit of learning and consolidating what we know,” Dr. Hatipoglu reflects. “We are changing the field with the connections made at our symposiums. It is typical for participants to exchange information and make specific plans to follow-up, share materials or shadow one another to learn procedures.”

For Cleveland Clinic, one such connection led to a relationship between the Cleveland Clinic islet isolation and transplantation group, and Stanford’s beta cell-related genetic research team. “Because of our contact through the symposium, we now send isolated islet cells to Stanford for their research on genetic expression of genes that impact diabetes,” Dr. Hatipoglu explains. Cleveland Clinic also forged a collaborative relationship with Harvard University Medical Center, becoming a future site for bionic pancreas transplantation.

To encourage relationship-building, the event provides a pre-symposium dinner and social time, on-site lunch and evening sharing time Friday night as well as an extended Q&A following the last speaker on Saturday. To reach healthcare professionals who cannot travel to Cleveland Clinic, the symposium will be available online, live, for full participation from office, clinic or home.