Joseph Joel

Education

2019 - Biology and Biotechnology B.Sc., Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI

Research project

One of the key hallmarks of T2D is the presence of toxic amyloid fibril aggregates in the pancreas, notably aggregates of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) secreted from pancreatic beta cells with insulin, zinc ions, and c-peptide. My goals are to investigate ternary interactions between hIAPP, zinc ions, and insulin in solution, as well as investigating membrane interactions with these amylin/insulin aggregates. Our data show a previously unreported cross-seeding interaction between amylin and insulin, of which the kinetics have never been fully depicted.