Dr. Raghu Mirmira

Biography

Raghu G. Mirmira, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist specializing in diabetes, β-cell biology, and translational endocrinology. He is a tenured Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and serves as the Director of the NIH-funded Diabetes Research Training Center and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Mirmira completed his MD and PhD training at the University of Chicago, followed by residency and fellowship training at the University of California, San Francisco, and was a Howard Hughes Physician Postdoctoral Fellow. His research primarily focuses on understanding the mechanisms leading to pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and loss in diabetes. His laboratory investigates transcriptional control of β-cell identity, inflammatory pathways, and stress-response mechanisms that affect β-cell survival. Dr. Mirmira's team has contributed to the development of biomarkers reflecting β-cell stress and injury in individuals at risk for type 1 diabetes. He has maintained continuous NIH funding for over a decade and serves as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH grants. In addition to his research program, Dr. Mirmira is actively involved in clinical endocrinology, advocating for urgent regulatory updates concerning islet allotransplantation in the United States.

Research Interests