Klearchos Papas, PhD, is the director of the Institute for Cellular Transplantation, he has devoted his research career to the application of engineering principles and the development of enabling technologies in the fields of cell therapy and tissue engineering with a focus on the treatment of diabetes. He has studied and utilized the properties of insulin-secreting tissue and their relationshito viability and function in the context cell therapies for diabetes with the objective of improving cost-effectiveness, availability, and clinical outcomes of this approach. Prior to joining the University of Arizona in 2011, Dr. Papas served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota 2003-2011) where he held leadershipositions as associate director of the Islet Transplant Program, director of Islet Processing Research and Development and director of the Islet Quality Assurance Core in the Schulze Diabetes Institute. Prior to that he held joint research positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation JDRF) Center for Islet Transplantation at Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Yale University 1999-2003) Affiliations: Dr. Papas serves on the council if the Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Society Formerly Cell Transplantation Society) He also serves on the editorial Board of the journals: Cell Transplantation, Cell Medicine, Xenotransplantation and Cell R4.