Contact
Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Surgery Dept
- apepper@ualberta.ca
- Address
-
6-002D Li Ka Shing Centre For Research
8602 112 St NWEdmonton ABT6G 2E1
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Type 1 Diabetes Beta Cell Transplantation Islet Biology Stem Cells Biomaterials Immunosuppression
About
Dr. Pepper is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Alberta and a Canada Research Chair in Cell Therapies for Diabetes. In 2012, Dr. Pepper received his PhD in Pathology from the University of Western Ontario under the mentorship of transplant pioneer Dr. David White, studying methods to predict islet transplant function based on mitochondrial respiration. In parallel, Dr. Pepper worked for the Clinical Islet Transplantation Program (LHSC), building skills in human organ procurement and islet isolation. He further gained translational industry experience as a Scientist, where he spearheaded projects with pig islet transplant models using medical devices. In 2012, Dr. Pepper join the world-renowned lab of Dr. James Shapiro (developer of the Edmonton Protocol), in the Alberta Diabetes Institute as postdoctoral fellow. In 2018, Dr. Pepper was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta and promoted to Associate Professor in 2025.
Selected Awards and Fellowships:
2021 - Canada Research Chair Tier 2
2020 - JDRF (International) - Career Development Award
2017 - Med Star Postdoctoral Fellows Award
2017 - International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association - Scientific Award
2016 - Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Postgraduate Fellowship
2016 - Canadian Society of Transplantation - Basic Science Award
2015 - Transplantation Society (TTS-IPITA) - Young Investigator Scientific Award
2015 - JDRF-Canadian Clinical Trial Network/ Eli Lilly Canada Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Clinical Interests
Clinical Islet and stem cell transplantation
Research
Currently, Dr. Pepper's laboratory seeks to better understand how pancreatic islet cells survive and function post-transplant, to better treat type 1 diabetes (T1D). His group develops original cell-based therapies for T1D by bridging basic science (stem cell/islet biology) and clinical science (transplantation). His studies range from in vitro models to clinical transplants, including:
1) Developing cell transplant technologies without immunosuppression.
2) Improving function of pancreatic beta cell grafts.
3) Translating alternative beta cell sources into an unlimited supply of insulin-producing cells.
Featured Publications
Alessandro Grattoni, Gregory Korbutt, Alice A. Tomei, Andrés J. García, Andrew R. Pepper, Cherie Stabler, Michael Brehm, Klearchos Papas, Antonio Citro, Haval Shirwan, Jeffrey R. Millman, Juan Melero-Martin, Melanie Graham, Michael Sefton, Minglin Ma, Norma Kenyon, Omid Veiseh, Tejal A. Desai, M. Cristina Nostro, Marjana Marinac, Megan Sykes, Holger A. Russ, Jon Odorico, Qizhi Tang, Camillo Ricordi, Esther Latres, Nicholas E. Mamrak, Jaime Giraldo, Mark C. Poznansky, Paul de Vos
Nature Reviews Endocrinology. 2025 January; 10.1038/s41574-024-01029-0
Wong JM, Pepper AR
Frontiers in transplantation. 2024 November; 10.3389/frtra.2024.1485444
Ewald JD, Lu Y, Ellis CE, Worton J, Kolic J, Sasaki S, Zhang D, Dos Santos T, Spigelman AF, Bautista A, Dai XQ, Lyon JG, Smith NP, Wong JM, Rajesh V, Sun H, Seth A Sharp, Rogalski JC, Moravcova R, Haoning Howard Cen, Manning Fox JE, HumanIslets.com Consortium, Atlas E, Bruin JE, Mulvihill EE, Verchere CB, Foster LJ, Anna Gloyn, Johnson JD, Pepper AR, Lynn FC, Xia J, MacDonald PE
Cell metabolism. 2024 October; 10.1016/j.cmet.2024.09.001
Berishvili E, Peloso A, Tomei AA, Pepper AR
Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation. 2024 March; 10.3389/ti.2024.12885
Kosala Waduthanthri, Kuppan P, Korbutt GS, Pepper AR, Larry D Unsworth
Biomacromolecules. 2024 February; 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00977
Lin H, Suzuki K, Smith N, Li X, Nalbach L, Fuentes S, Aliya F Spigelman, Dai XQ, Bautista A, Ferdaoussi M, Aggarwal S, Andrew R Pepper, Leticia Prates Roma, Ampofo E, Wen-hong Li, Patrick E. MacDonald
Nature communications. 2024 January; 10.1038/s41467-023-44589-x
Long-Hai Wang, Braulio A. Marfil-Garza, Alexander U. Ernst, Rena L. Pawlick, Andrew R. Pepper, Kento Okada, Boris Epel, Navin Viswakarma, Mrignayani Kotecha, James Arthur Flanders, Ashim K. Datta, Hong-Jie Gao, Ye-Zi You, Minglin Ma, A. M. James Shapiro
Nature Biomedical Engineering. 2023 December; 10.1038/s41551-023-01145-8
Pre-transplant exercise may improve glycemic outcomes after marginal islet mass transplant in type 1 diabetes
Diabetes Canada Professional Conference . 2023 November;
Blood glucose levels following repetitive aerobic exercise in fasted rats with type 1 diabetes
Diabetes Canada Professional Conference. 2023 November;
Purushothaman Kuppan, Jordan Wong, Sandra Kelly, Jiaxin Lin, Jessica Worton, Chelsea Castro, Joy Paramor, Karen Seeberger, Nerea Cuesta-Gomez, Colin C. Anderson, Gregory S Korbutt, Andrew R Pepper
Pharmaceutics. 2023 August; 10.3390/pharmaceutics15092201
Kateryna Polishevska, Sandra Kelly, Purushothaman Kuppan, Karen L. Seeberger, Saloni Aggarwal, Joy Paramor, Larry D. Unsworth, Hubert M. Tse, Gregory S. Korbutt, Andrew R. Pepper
Pharmaceutics. 2023 April; 10.3390/pharmaceutics15041137
bioRxiv. 2023 January; 10.1101/2023.02.14.528345
Advanced Therapeutics. 2023 January; 10.1002/adtp.202200132
Aggarwal S., Pepper A.R., Korbutt G.S.
Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research. 2022 June; 24 10.1016/j.coemr.2022.100354
Saloni Aggarwal, Andrew R. Pepper, Gregory S. Korbutt
Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research. 2022 June; 10.1016/j.coemr.2022.100354
Saloni Aggarwal, Andrew R.Pepper, Najwa Al Jahdhami
Journal of Immunology and Regenerative Medicine. 2022 May; 16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regen.2021.100058
Evaluation of assembly and disassembly behaviour of drug loaded ELP nanoparticles
Canadian Biomaterials Society. 2022 May;
Haopeng Lin, Kunimasa Suzuki, Nancy Smith, Xi Li, Lisa Nalbach, Sonia Fuentes, Aliya F Spigelman, Xiaoqing Dai, Austin Bautista, Mourad Ferdaoussi, Saloni Aggarwal, Andrew R Pepper, Leticia P Roma, Emmanuel Ampofo, Wen-hong Li, Patrick E MacDonald
BioRxiv. 2022 April; 10.1101/2022.04.05.487203
Purushothaman Kuppan, Sandra Kelly, Karen Seeberger, Chelsea Castro, Mandy Rosko, Andrew R. Pepper, Gregory S. Korbutt
Polymers. 2022 March; 10.3390/polym14061120
Kuppan P., Kelly S., Seeberger K., Castro C., Rosko M., Pepper A.R., Korbutt G.S.
Polymers. 2022 March; 14 (6):1-14 10.3390/polym14061120
bioRxiv. 2022 January; 10.1101/2022.04.05.487203
Transplantation. 2022 January; 10.1097/TP.0000000000003746
Transplantation. 2021 December; 10.1097/01.tp.0000804536.23741.ad
Transplantation. 2021 December; 10.1097/01.tp.0000804340.34071.ab
Transplantation. 2021 December; 10.1097/01.tp.0000804416.62388.b4
Transplantation. 2021 December; 10.1097/01.tp.0000804688.45982.65
THE ROLE OF NECROPTOSIS IN ?-CELL LOSS FOLLOWING ISLET TRANSPLANTATION
3rd Annual Joint Symposium Helmhotlz Research School of Diabetes. 2021 December;
UPREGULATION OF CYTOSOLIC REDUCING SIGNALING THROUGH SENP1 IS REQUIRED FOR �-CELL FUNCTIONAL COMPENSATION TO SHORT-TERM HIGH FAT DIET
Alberta Diabetes Institute Research Day . 2021 November;
Andrew R. Pepper, Gregory S. Korbutt
American Journal of Transplantation. 2021 September; 10.1111/ajt.16587
The Role of Necroptosis in �-Cell Loss Following Islet Transplantation
Tom Williams Research Day. 2021 May;
Cytoprotective Properties of Thioketals Against Oxidative Stress Damage to Islets
Canadian Biomaterials Society. 2021 May;
Upregulation of cytosolic reducing signaling through SENP1 is required for beta-cell functional compensation to short-term HFD
Insulin 100: Scientific Symposium. 2021 April;
Pepper A.R., Korbutt G.S.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION. 2021 April; 21 (9):2927-2928 10.1111/ajt.16587
TRANSPLANTATION. 2021 March; 10.1097/TP.0000000000003746
Transplantation. 2021 January;
Transplantation. 2021 January;
Transplantation. 2021 January;
Transplantation. 2021 January;
THE ROLE OF NECROPTOSIS IN ?-CELL LOSS FOLLOWING ISLET CELL TRANSPLANTATION
Alberta Diabetes Institute Research Day . 2020 November;
LAYER BY LAYER COATING PRESERVES HUMAN AND MOUSE ISLETS IN VITRO AND IN VIVO FUNCTIONAL POTENCY
Alberta Diabetes Institute Research Day . 2020 November;
Purushothaman Kuppan, Sandra Kelly, Kateryna Polishevska, Osmanmyrat Hojanepesov, Karen Seeberger, Gregory S. Korbutt, Andrew R. Pepper
American Journal of Transplantation. 2020 March; 10.1111/ajt.15662
Xenotransplantation. 2020 January; 10.1111/xen.12581
Comprehensive Physiology. 2020 January; 10.1002/cphy.c190033
Diabetes. 2019 January; 10.2337/db18-0788
Transplantation. 2018 January; 10.1097/TP.0000000000002083
Islets. 2018 January; 10.1080/19382014.2018.1428511
Principles of Regenerative Medicine. 2018 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-809880-6.00056-4
American Journal of Transplantation. 2018 January; 10.1111/ajt.14705
Diabetologia. 2018 January; 10.1007/s00125-018-4672-5
Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation. 2018 January; 10.1097/MOT.0000000000000546
Cell Death and Disease. 2018 January; 10.1038/s41419-018-0506-0
PLoS ONE. 2018 January; 10.1371/journal.pone.0206449
Transplantation. 2017 January; 10.1097/TP.0000000000001638
Islets. 2017 January; 10.1080/19382014.2017.1330742
Stem Cell Reports. 2017 January; 10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.05.004
PLoS ONE. 2016 January; 10.1371/journal.pone.0156053
Islets. 2016 January; 10.1080/19382014.2016.1190058
Diabetes. 2016 January; 10.2337/db15-0764
Transplantation. 2016 January; 10.1097/TP.0000000000001162
Islets. 2016 January; 10.1080/19382014.2016.1253652
Journal of Biomedical Optics. 2016 January; 10.1117/1.JBO.21.6.066003
Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE. 2016 January; 10.1117/12.2211247
Islets. 2016 January; 10.1080/19382014.2016.1199303
Islets of Langerhans, Second Edition. 2015 January; 10.1007/978-94-007-6686-0_20
Nature Biotechnology. 2015 January; 10.1038/nbt.3211
Transplantation. 2015 January;
Xenotransplantation. 2015 January;
Transplantation. 2015 January; 10.1097/TP.0000000000000864
Transplantation. 2015 January;
Xenotransplantation. 2015 January;
Transplantation Proceedings. 2014 January; 10.1016/j.transproceed.2014.06.002
American Journal of Transplantation. 2014 January; 10.1111/ajt.12838
Current Transplantation Reports. 2014 January; 10.1007/s40472-014-0016-7
Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity. 2014 January; 10.2147/DMSO.S50789
Pancreas. 2014 January;
Pancreas. 2013 January; 10.1097/MPA.0b013e318264bcdd
PLoS ONE. 2013 January; 10.1371/journal.pone.0055288
Transplantation. 2013 January;
Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics. 2013 January; 10.1089/dia.2012.0297
Clinical and Developmental Immunology. 2013 January; 10.1155/2013/352315
Current Diabetes Reports. 2013 January; 10.1007/s11892-013-0414-8
Cell transplantation. 2012 January; 10.3727/096368912X653273
Xenotransplantation. 2009 January;
Xenotransplantation. 2009 January;
Xenotransplantation. 2009 January;
Xenotransplantation. 2009 January;
Xenotransplantation. 2009 January;
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