The Diabetes & Obesity Center of Excellence (DOCE) and the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology & Nutrition, are pleased to welcome two new Acting Associate Professors, Vincenzo Cirulli MD, PhD and Laura Crisa MD, PhD.  Dr. Cirulli comes to us from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego.  Laura Crisa MD, PhD comes to us from the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA.  Drs. Cirulli and Crisa will be members of the Diabetes Stem Cell Program (DSCP), which is the interface between the DOCE and the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM).  This collaborative effort will unite investigators and resources across a variety of disciplines in a programmatic effort to develop a cell-based therapy for diabetes.  Drs. Cirulli and Crisa, along with their Post Doctoral Fellows, Rudolf Pillich and Antonio Jimenez-Caliani, will be joining DOCE the first week of August 2009.