Andrew Pepper

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Surgery Dept

Contact

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Surgery Dept
Email
apepper@ualberta.ca
Address
6-002D Li Ka Shing Centre For Research
8602 112 St NW
Edmonton AB
T6G 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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