Maike Sander

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Maike Sander was appointed as the Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, Germany, in November 2022, following her tenure as Director of the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the formation and function of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, aiming to develop new therapeutic approaches for diabetes. She combines genetic approaches using human stem cell models with single-cell genomics and genetic data.

Dr. Sander’s accolades include the Grodsky Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Humboldt Research Award, and the Albert Renold Prize from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina).

She has played a pivotal leadership role in multidisciplinary teams within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Islet Research Network and the Accelerating Medicines Partnership in Type 2 Diabetes Consortium. Additionally, she has served as the chair of the NIH study section on Cellular Aspects of Diabetes and Obesity, the review committee for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and has served on the strategic planning committee for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.