Jessie Barra

Jessie Barra is a Researcher at the University of Florida's Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Her work focuses on advancing therapies for diabetes through immunoprotection strategies in islet transplantation, stem cell engineering, and biomaterial encapsulation. She is mentored by Holger Russ, PhD, and leads the grant-funded project 'Orthogonal engineering to suppress autoreactive T cell activation in T1D cell therapy.'

Research Interests:
Her research addresses immune rejection mechanisms in islet transplantation, stem cell-derived beta cell immunogenicity, and targeted drug delivery systems. Key areas include:

• Development of CAR-Treg therapies for beta cell protection
• Cryopreservation optimization for functional beta cell preservation
• Nanocapsule engineering for pancreatic targeting
• Redox-dependent immune modulation strategies
• Xenotransplantation advancements using polyphenol encapsulation

Grant Activity:
As Principal Investigator (PI), she leads a $1.5M project (BREAKTHROUGH T1D) exploring combinatorial engineering approaches to enhance cell therapy efficacy in Type 1 Diabetes.

Lab Focus:
Her lab works at the interface of immunology and biomaterials science, developing innovative solutions to overcome immune barriers in cellular therapies. Key locations include the University of Florida's medical research facilities at 1200 Newell Dr, Gainesville.