Jason Gaglia, MD, MMSc

Clinical Provider, Researcher
Adult Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes
Immunobiology

Assistant Investigator and Staff Physician
Section Head, Clinical, Behavioral and Outcomes Research
Director of Hood Center for the Prevention of Childhood Diabetes
Co-Director, Clinical Translational Research Core
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Jason Gaglia is a graduate of Rutgers College in New Jersey where he earned degrees in Biochemistry and Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, and General Physics. He went on to Harvard Medical School as part of the Harvard/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Health Sciences and Technology Program where he was awarded his MD magna cum laude. He also is a graduate the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard affiliated Clinical Investigator Training Program. He completed residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Joslin Diabetes Center. He was also previously an Instructor in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Gaglia’s research has been focused on immunology and type 1 diabetes. His accomplishments in these areas include cloning the immune regulatory molecule TIM-3, being a member of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Islet Transplant Program, leading a clinical trial demonstrating the feasibility of using magnetic resonance imaging to measure inflammation in the pancreas with the development of type 1 diabetes, and being the principal investigator on the first clinical trial to report preservation of function with a dendritic cell therapy in type 1 diabetes.

Dr. Gaglia is also a practicing endocrinologist and sees patients at Joslin's Adult Clinic.

Education

Medical School: Harvard Medical School
Residency: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Fellowship: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Joslin Diabetes Center Joint Program
Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Subspecialty Certification in Endocrinology and Metabolism; Endocrine Certification in Neck Ultrasound

Clinical Interest

Adult
Adult-onset Type 1 diabetes
Type 1

Research Interests

Dr. Gaglia is a physician scientist; many of his research projects are inspired by questions raised in the clinic, with type 1 diabetes being a major focus. He is developing clinically applicable techniques to monitor insulitis (the destructive process that leads to type 1 diabetes), peripheral markers of diabetes related autoimmunity, and measures of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells themselves. In collaboration with other investigators, Dr. Gaglia is applying these techniques to learn more about the underlying processes that lead to type 1 diabetes as well as developing novel treatment strategies for this disease.

Making better beta cells:

In collaboration with Peng Yi at Joslin and the Breakthrough T1D Barbara Dewey Cammett Center of Excellence in New England, Dr. Gaglia’s group is designing and testing genetically engineered stem cell-derived islets for the treatment of diabetes.

Monitoring autoimmunity in diabetes:

Currently, islet-antigen-targeted autoantibody tests are used as a peripheral marker of the autoimmunity that leads to type 1 diabetes. However, these autoantibodies are immunologically distant from the destructive processes that cause diabetes. Dr. Gaglia’s lab is developing new blood tests of immune responses in health and disease.

Clinical trials in type 1 diabetes:

Dr. Gaglia is a Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet center director. As part of TrialNet he leads the Joslin screening efforts to identify persons with presymptomatic type 1 diabetes and intervening to delay or prevent progression to clinical diabetes. He is also a principal investigator on other clinical trials at Joslin including those sponsored by Immune Tolerance Network and industry partners. Many of these studies are focused on reprogramming the immune system to not attack the insulin producing beta cells or regenerating the ability to make insulin.