Audrey Parent, PhD
Associate Professor
Diabetes Center
School of Medicine

We are combining directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cell types relevant to T1D with genome engineering to model the human disease in vitro and in humanized mouse models. Our innovative research thus leverage a unique combination of stem cell differentiation, beta cell biology, and immunology expertise to study human autoimmune diseases.

The main areas of research in our laboratory include:

1. Modeling Autoimmune Pathogenesis and Beta Cell Destruction by T1D Immune Systems - Understanding the initiation and progression of human T1D has been hampered by the lack of appropriate models that can reproduce the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease. One of our projects is thus focused on creating new state of the art humanized models that incorporate stem cell-derived derivatives relevant to T1D, including thymic epithelial cells, which are critical to the development of new self-tolerant T cells, immune cells, and pancreatic beta cells.

2. Creation of immune evasive stem cell-derived beta cells for the treatment of diabetes - Successful clinical translation of stem cell therapies requires overcoming the major roadblock of immune rejection due to alloimmune responses and islet-specific autoimmune responses against transplanted beta cells present in patients with T1D. We are taking advantage of recent advances in genetic engineering methods to create immune evasive stem cell grafts, potentially allowing their survival in the absence of long-term immunosuppression. This work has led to the establishment of multiple interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers at UCSF and other institutions.

3. Development and education of human T cells - Our lab is generating thymic epithelial cells and immune cells from human pluripotent stem cells to study and manipulate immune tolerance. We have established a thymic organoid system and are using genetic engineering tools to better understand how specific genes affect thymic function. Overall, this work provides important insights into how the human thymus develops and functions and will further advance our understanding of immune tolerance defects in the context of human autoimmune diseases.

• A universal platform for simultaneous TCRα/β removal enables safer and more potent TCR therapies and autoimmune modeling.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2026 Zanetti G, Legut M, Chen A, Fathi F, Suek N, Teteloshvili N, Li HW, Ding X, Traum D, Kaestner KH, Hoang RE, Bremer E, Sewell AK, Parent AV, Creusot RJ, Sykes M, Khosravi-Maharlooei M
• Author Correction: Redox regulation of m6A methyltransferase METTL3 in β-cells controls the innate immune response in type 1 diabetes.
  Nature cell biology 2026 De Jesus DF, Zhang Z, Brown NK, Li X, Xiao L, Hu J, Gaffrey MJ, Fogarty G, Kahraman S, Wei J, Basile G, Rana TM, Mathews C, Powers AC, Parent AV, Atkinson MA, Dhe-Paganon S, Eizirik DL, Qian WJ, He C,…
• Closing the Gap Between Vision and Victory in Type 1 Diabetes: The NIDDK Human Islet Research Network (HIRN) Initiative.
  Diabetes 2025 Parent AV, Agarwal A, Alvarez-Dominguez JR, Arrojo E Drigo R, Atkinson MA, Brehm MA, Ferreira LMR, Kaestner KH, Kravets V, Niland JC, O'Meally D, Rouse L, Russ HA, Stabler CL, Kaddis JS
• Foot orthosis design for children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth and impact on gait.
  Prosthetics and orthotics international 2025 Martel M, Parent A, Émond M, Rivet N, Fortin C, Ballaz L
• Incontinentia pigmenti underlies thymic dysplasia, autoantibodies to type I IFNs, and viral diseases.
  The Journal of experimental medicine 2024 Rosain J, Le Voyer T, Liu X, Gervais A, Polivka L, Cederholm A, Berteloot L, Parent AV, Pescatore A, Spinosa E, Minic S, Kiszewski AE, Tsumura M, Thibault C, Esnaola Azcoiti M, Martinovic J, Philippot…
• Redox regulation of m6A methyltransferase METTL3 in β-cells controls the innate immune response in type 1 diabetes.
  Nature cell biology 2024 De Jesus DF, Zhang Z, Brown NK, Li X, Xiao L, Hu J, Gaffrey MJ, Fogarty G, Kahraman S, Wei J, Basile G, Rana TM, Mathews C, Powers AC, Parent AV, Atkinson MA, Dhe-Paganon S, Eizirik DL, Qian WJ, He C,…
• Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in humans with alternative NF-κB pathway deficiency.
  Nature 2023 Le Voyer T, Parent AV, Liu X, Cederholm A, Gervais A, Rosain J, Nguyen T, Perez Lorenzo M, Rackaityte E, Rinchai D, Zhang P, Bizien L, Hancioglu G, Ghillani-Dalbin P, Charuel JL, Philippot Q, Gueye MS…
• Ikaros is a principal regulator of Aire+ mTEC homeostasis, thymic mimetic cell diversity, and central tolerance.
  Science immunology 2023 Sin JH, Sucharov J, Kashyap S, Wang Y, Proekt I, Liu X, Parent AV, Gupta A, Kastner P, Chan S, Gardner JM, Ntranos V, Miller CN, Anderson MS, Schjerven H, Waterfield MR
• Redox Regulation of m 6 A Methyltransferase METTL3 in Human β-cells Controls the Innate Immune Response in Type 1 Diabetes.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023 De Jesus DF, Zhang Z, Brown NK, Li X, Gaffrey MJ, Kahraman S, Wei J, Hu J, Basile G, Xiao L, Rana TM, Mathews C, Powers AC, Atkinson MA, Eizirik DL, Dhe-Paganon S, Parent AV, Qian WJ, He C, Kulkarni …
• Autoantibodies to Perilipin-1 Define a Subset of Acquired Generalized Lipodystrophy.
  Diabetes 2023 Mandel-Brehm C, Vazquez SE, Liverman C, Cheng M, Quandt Z, Kung AF, Parent A, Miao B, Disse E, Cugnet-Anceau C, Dalle S, Orlova E, Frolova E, Alba D, Michels A, Oftedal BE, Lionakis MS, Husebye ES, …
• Performance fatigability during isometric vs. concentric quadriceps fatiguing tasks in men and women.
  Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology 2022 Varesco G, Lapole T, Royer N, Singh B, Parent A, Féasson L, Millet GY, Rozand V
• Static Postural Control Deficits in Adults with Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, Steinert Disease.
  Journal of neuromuscular diseases 2022 Parent A, Ballaz L, Samadi B, Vocos M, Comtois AS, Pouliot-Laforte A
• Modeling human T1D-associated autoimmune processes.
  Molecular metabolism 2021 Khosravi-Maharlooei M, Madley R, Borsotti C, Ferreira LMR, Sharp RC, Brehm MA, Greiner DL, Parent AV, Anderson MS, Sykes M, Creusot RJ
• Effect of race distance on performance fatigability in male trail and ultra-trail runners.
  Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 2021 Temesi J, Besson T, Parent A, Singh B, Martin V, Brownstein CG, Espeit L, Royer N, Rimaud D, Lapole T, Féasson L, Millet GY
• From type 1 diabetes biology to therapy: The Human Islet Research Network.
  Molecular metabolism 2021 Kaddis JS, Rouse L, Parent AV, Saunders DC, Shalev A, Stabler CL, Stoffers DA, Wagner BK, Niland JC
• Reliability and agreement of a dynamic quadriceps incremental test for the assessment of neuromuscular function.
  Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology 2020 Varesco G, Royer N, Singh B, Parent A, Féasson L, Lapole T, Millet GY, Rozand V
• High-resolution epitope mapping of anti-Hu and anti-Yo autoimmunity by programmable phage display.
  Brain communications 2020 O'Donovan B, Mandel-Brehm C, Vazquez SE, Liu J, Parent AV, Anderson MS, Kassimatis T, Zekeridou A, Hauser SL, Pittock SJ, Chow E, Wilson MR, DeRisi JL
• Landscape of stimulation-responsive chromatin across diverse human immune cells.
  Nature genetics 2019 Calderon D, Nguyen MLT, Mezger A, Kathiria A, Müller F, Nguyen V, Lescano N, Wu B, Trombetta J, Ribado JV, Knowles DA, Gao Z, Blaeschke F, Parent AV, Burt TD, Anderson MS, Criswell LA, Greenleaf WJ, …
• Supporting Survival of Transplanted Stem-Cell-Derived Insulin-Producing Cells in an Encapsulation Device Augmented with Controlled Release of Amino Acids.
  Advanced biosystems 2019 Chendke GS, Faleo G, Juang C, Parent AV, Bernards DA, Hebrok M, Tang Q, Desai TA
• Experience-based decision-tree process for selective dorsal rhizotomy in children with cerebral palsy.
  Annals of physical and rehabilitation medicine 2019 Parent A, Marois P, Letellier G, Raison M, Mercier C, Ballaz L
• Muscle fatigue during a short walking exercise in children with cerebral palsy who walk in a crouch gait.
  Gait & posture 2019 Parent A, Pouliot-Laforte A, Dal Maso F, Cherni Y, Marois P, Ballaz L
• Thymic tuft cells promote an IL-4-enriched medulla and shape thymocyte development.
  Nature 2018 Miller CN, Proekt I, von Moltke J, Wells KL, Rajpurkar AR, Wang H, Rattay K, Khan IS, Metzger TC, Pollack JL, Fries AC, Lwin WW, Wigton EJ, Parent AV, Kyewski B, Erle DJ, Hogquist KA, Steinmetz LM, …
• Mitigating Ischemic Injury of Stem Cell-Derived Insulin-Producing Cells after Transplant.
  Stem cell reports 2017 Faleo G, Russ HA, Wisel S, Parent AV, Nguyen V, Nair GG, Freise JE, Villanueva KE, Szot GL, Hebrok M, Tang Q
• Nanoporous Immunoprotective Device for Stem-Cell-Derived β-Cell Replacement Therapy.
  ACS nano 2017 Chang R, Faleo G, Russ HA, Parent AV, Elledge SK, Bernards DA, Allen JL, Villanueva K, Hebrok M, Tang Q, Desai TA
• Impact of a short walking exercise on gait kinematics in children with cerebral palsy who walk in a crouch gait.
  Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon) 2016 Parent A, Raison M, Pouliot-Laforte A, Marois P, Maltais DB, Ballaz L
• Controlled induction of human pancreatic progenitors produces functional beta-like cells in vitro.
  The EMBO journal 2015 Russ HA, Parent AV, Ringler JJ, Hennings TG, Nair GG, Shveygert M, Guo T, Puri S, Haataja L, Cirulli V, Blelloch R, Szot GL, Arvan P, Hebrok M
• Generation of functional thymic epithelium from human embryonic stem cells that supports host T cell development.
  Cell stem cell 2013 Parent AV, Russ HA, Khan IS, LaFlam TN, Metzger TC, Anderson MS, Hebrok M
• Elevated Hedgehog/Gli signaling causes beta-cell dedifferentiation in mice.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011 Landsman L, Parent A, Hebrok M
• WDR36 acts as a scaffold protein tethering a G-protein-coupled receptor, Gαq and phospholipase Cβ in a signalling complex.
  Journal of cell science 2011 Cartier A, Parent A, Labrecque P, Laroche G, Parent JL
• ANKRD13C acts as a molecular chaperone for G protein-coupled receptors.
  The Journal of biological chemistry 2010 Parent A, Roy SJ, Iorio-Morin C, Lépine MC, Labrecque P, Gallant MA, Slipetz D, Parent JL
• Characterization of C-terminal tail determinants involved in CRTH2 receptor trafficking: identification of a recycling motif.
  European journal of pharmacology 2009 Roy SJ, Parent A, Gallant MA, de Brum-Fernandes AJ, Stanková J, Parent JL
• Rab11 regulates the recycling of the beta2-adrenergic receptor through a direct interaction.
  The Biochemical journal 2009 Parent A, Hamelin E, Germain P, Parent JL
• RACK1 regulates the cell surface expression of the G protein-coupled receptor for thromboxane A(2).
  Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark) 2007 Parent A, Laroche G, Hamelin E, Parent JL
• Peroxiredoxin-4 interacts with and regulates the thromboxane A(2) receptor.
  FEBS letters 2007 Giguère P, Turcotte ME, Hamelin E, Parent A, Brisson J, Laroche G, Labrecque P, Dupuis G, Parent JL