The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO ) has elected Professor Maike Sander, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center and Vice President of Helmholtz Health, as a new member. The diabetes researcher thus joins a community of over 2,100 leading bioscientists who are shaping the future of molecular biology.

Sander is one of 69 newly elected members who have been recognized for their outstanding achievements in the life sciences. “It is an honor to join EMBO,” says Sander. “I look forward to advancing research that improves people’s health.” As an EMBO member, she will review funding applications, serve on committees and help shape the strategic direction of the biosciences.

Sander’s research aims to decipher the molecular mechanisms of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas in order to develop new therapies for diabetes. Her team has developed methods to grow islet cell organoids from human pluripotent stem cells. These serve as a model to investigate why beta cells fail in diabetes. The researchers use single-cell genomics to analyze the signals that control insulin production

Recently, Sander’s group created an organoid model with its own blood vessels that more realistically replicates the natural environment of beta cells. Using microfluidic chips that incorporate immune cells, Sander wants to better understand the destruction of beta cells in type 1 diabetes. At the same time, she is investigating why beta cells stop producing insulin in type 2 diabetes. “Our aim is to develop innovative therapies,” explains Sander.

Sander is the recipient of prestigious awards such as the Grodsky Prize of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Albert Renold Prize 2022 of the European Society for the Study of Diabetes. She is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and other prestigious institutions

The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association conducts research in Berlin, Heidelberg and Mannheim. With 1,800 employees from over 70 countries, it works on an interdisciplinary basis to translate biological findings into personalized medicine. It is funded 90 percent by the federal government and 10 percent by the state of Berlin.

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