Welcome to the Thompson Lab!
Our Science
Pancreatic beta cells (green) undergoing a DNA damage response (red) and being attacked by self-reactive immune cells (blue cells surrounding beta cells) in a mouse model for Type 1 Diabetes.
Our lab uses cutting edge approaches to investigate how and why pancreatic beta cells are destroyed in Type 1 Diabetes.
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Our Location
We are located in the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), at the Bannatyne Campus of the University of Manitoba.
We respectfully acknowledge and are grateful for the opportunity we have to carry out diabetes research on Treaty 1 territory, the home of Anishinaabeg, Ininiwak, Anisininewak, Dakota Oyate and Dene peoples and homeland of the Red River Métis. |
Recent news from the lab.
February 2026. Alycia successfully completed and defended her MSc thesis proposal! Congrats Alycia! The lab performed its first pilot islet transplant model study, transplanting human donor islets into immune-deficient mice to examine beta cell stress therapies! Congrats to Dr. Nayara Rampazzo Morelli who led these efforts in collaboration with Dr. Thompson.
January 2026. Dr. Thompson joined with the Diabetes Education Resource for Children and Adolescents (DER-CA) at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg, and experts in islet transplantation and child psychology for a fun and engaging T1D family research day event. Dr. Thompson spoke and the day was filled with great community engagement from families and individuals affected by T1D. Huge thanks to those who organized the event, volunteered with child-minding and the funds from a generous donor to host this event!
December 2025. The lab enjoyed a quiet end to a very exciting and productive year! Congrats to everyone on all the accomplishments of 2025!
November 2025. The lab had two research papers published this month, both led by Camille! First, our study examining insulin production during beta cell senescence was published in Diabetologia! See the publication here. Second, our investigation of circulating factors senescence-associated factors across the stages of T1D in collaboration with TrialNet was published in Scientific Reports! See the publication here. Congrats Camille for your efforts in leading these studies and thanks to all the coauthors on both papers and collaborations from the Verchere lab on the Diabeologia study! Members of the lab were also active in presenting research at major conferences. Dr. Thompson spoke at the Rachmiel Levine-Arthur Riggs Diabetes Research Symposium at the City of Hope, while Jasmine, Camille, Mystica and Nayara presented research at the Canadian Islet Research and Training Network (CIRTN-R2FIC) national meeting as well as at the Diabetes Canada professional conference. Great work everyone!
October 2025. The Thompson lab was awarded a small research equipment grant from the University of Manitoba for upgrading protein detection approaches in the lab and at the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. This equipment will improve upon current approaches for protein analysis available in the lab. Dr. Thompson spoke at the Department of Physiology seminar series at the University of Toronto, discussing current studies on islet-immune crosstalk in T1D. Many thanks to colleagues at Toronto for the visit and excellent engagement from trainees at the seminar!
September 2025. Alycia and Niloofar joined the Thompson lab as incoming graduate students in the MSc and PhD programs in physiology, respectively. Welcome Alycia and Niloofar! Jasmine's paper on T cells and beta cell stress was published in Diabetes! You can find the paper here. Jasmine and Dr. Thompson presented Jasmine's paper to the SugarScience Th1nkTank seminar! Thanks to those who attended and to Dr. Monica Westley of the SugarScience for the invitation and facilitating an excellent discussion! You can find the recorded seminar here.
January 2026. Dr. Thompson joined with the Diabetes Education Resource for Children and Adolescents (DER-CA) at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg, and experts in islet transplantation and child psychology for a fun and engaging T1D family research day event. Dr. Thompson spoke and the day was filled with great community engagement from families and individuals affected by T1D. Huge thanks to those who organized the event, volunteered with child-minding and the funds from a generous donor to host this event!
December 2025. The lab enjoyed a quiet end to a very exciting and productive year! Congrats to everyone on all the accomplishments of 2025!
November 2025. The lab had two research papers published this month, both led by Camille! First, our study examining insulin production during beta cell senescence was published in Diabetologia! See the publication here. Second, our investigation of circulating factors senescence-associated factors across the stages of T1D in collaboration with TrialNet was published in Scientific Reports! See the publication here. Congrats Camille for your efforts in leading these studies and thanks to all the coauthors on both papers and collaborations from the Verchere lab on the Diabeologia study! Members of the lab were also active in presenting research at major conferences. Dr. Thompson spoke at the Rachmiel Levine-Arthur Riggs Diabetes Research Symposium at the City of Hope, while Jasmine, Camille, Mystica and Nayara presented research at the Canadian Islet Research and Training Network (CIRTN-R2FIC) national meeting as well as at the Diabetes Canada professional conference. Great work everyone!
October 2025. The Thompson lab was awarded a small research equipment grant from the University of Manitoba for upgrading protein detection approaches in the lab and at the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. This equipment will improve upon current approaches for protein analysis available in the lab. Dr. Thompson spoke at the Department of Physiology seminar series at the University of Toronto, discussing current studies on islet-immune crosstalk in T1D. Many thanks to colleagues at Toronto for the visit and excellent engagement from trainees at the seminar!
September 2025. Alycia and Niloofar joined the Thompson lab as incoming graduate students in the MSc and PhD programs in physiology, respectively. Welcome Alycia and Niloofar! Jasmine's paper on T cells and beta cell stress was published in Diabetes! You can find the paper here. Jasmine and Dr. Thompson presented Jasmine's paper to the SugarScience Th1nkTank seminar! Thanks to those who attended and to Dr. Monica Westley of the SugarScience for the invitation and facilitating an excellent discussion! You can find the recorded seminar here.
RESEARCH TEAMS AND NETWORKS
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FUNDING
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THOMPSON LAB (C) 2025.
