Jenny Bruin

Biography

Jenny Bruin Assistant Professor Degrees: B.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (McMaster)

Research Interest

My lab is primarily interested in studying the pathogenesis of diabetes, with a focus on insulin-secreting beta cells, which are located in clusters of endocrine cells within the pancreas called ‘islets’.  We are particularly interested in investigating how environmental factors (including exposure to pharmaceuticals, environmental toxicants and disease states) impact the endocrine pancreas, as well as the influence of gene-environment interactions on beta cell susceptibility and diabetes. The lab uses a diverse range of complementary tools and approaches.  Our in vivo work includes a strong foundation in traditional animal models of diabetes (type 1 and type 2), unique transgenic and gene knockout animal models, and islet transplantation techniques.  Our in vitro approaches include differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into pancreas lineage cells (a unique tool for modeling human pancreas development), primary culture of isolated pancreatic islets, and tissue culture of immortalized cell lines.