Breakthrough T1D Northern California Chapter Annual Meeting & Research Discussion

Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor, UCSF Diabetes Center. He is a recognized expert in the genetic underpinnings of autoimmune diseases and the control of immune tolerance. The main research interest of his laboratory group is to examine the genetic control of autoimmune diseases to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms by which immune tolerance is broken. A major focus is a human autoimmune syndrome called Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome Type 1 (APS1 or APECED), which is classically manifested by an autoimmune attack directed at multiple endocrine organs. Mark received his doctorate in immunology in 1992 and his medical degree in 1994 from the University of Chicago, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Kyle Loh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and The Anthony DiGenova Endowed Faculty Scholar at Stanford. He heads a laboratory that is generating pure populations of different types of human cells in a Petri dish from pluripotent stem cells. Their goal is to create a platform for stem cell-driven regenerative medicine. Kyle is a Packard Foundation Fellow, Pew Scholar, Human Frontiers Science Program Young Investigator, and Baxter Foundation Faculty Scholar, and his research has been recognized by the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, Forbes 30 Under 30, Harold Weintraub Graduate Award, Hertz Foundation Thesis Prize and A*STAR Investigatorship. He was an undergraduate at County College of Morris and Rutgers University and received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Aaron Kowalski, PhD, is the Chief Executive Officer of Breakthrough T1D International. He is an internationally recognized expert in the area of diabetes technologies and was a leader of Breakthrough T1D’s Artificial Pancreas Research Project. Aaron was pivotal in the transformation of Breakthrough T1D from an organization primarily funding academic research to a highly engaged strategic funder influencing all stages of the research and development pipeline. He combines his professional experience as a scientist with his personal experience of living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) since the age of 13, along with his younger brother who was diagnosed at the age of 3, to help guide and champion Breakthrough T1D’s programs.

Jennifer Schneider, MD, currently serves as President on the Breakthrough T1D Northern California Chapter Community Board, as well as on the Breakthrough T1D International Board of Directors. She is the President & Chief Medical Officer of Surf Bio, a preclinical biopharmaceutical company leveraging a novel biotechnology platform to develop enhanced therapeutic solutions for diabetes, oncology, infectious diseases, gene therapy, and other therapeutic areas. She advises several early stage medical device companies and is a visiting scholar at Stanford. Jennifer’s daughter and husband both live with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Her husband developed T1D as an adult, and just a few years later their daughter developed T1D at the age of two.