I am interested in understanding what goes wrong in type 1 diabetes (T1D) from a cell biology perspective, to identify novel therapeutic targets to slow or prevent the progression of T1D. I completed my PhD at the University of Sydney, where I used advanced live-cell microscopy techniques to investigate how the islet environment affects pancreatic beta cell function. I then joined the Immunology and Diabetes Unit at SVI in 2024 as a postdoctoral research officer, where I am currently using several pre-clinical models to study the mechanisms by which T cells destroy beta cells in T1D.
Key Achievements
2025 SVI Rising Star Award
2024 University of Sydney Paulette Isabel Jones Career Award
2022-2024 JDRF PhD Top-Up Award
2021 University of Sydney Postgraduate Award
Immunology
We study the precise mechanisms by which T cells destroy beta cells – the ultimate cause of type 1 diabetes – and test ways to prevent this from happening.
Lab head: Professor Tom KayDeng, K.; Sun, K.; Hallahan, N.; Gan, W.J.; Cielesh, M.; Mahyad, B.; Kebede, M.A.; Larance, M.; Thorn, P. Glucose-dependent insulin granule fusion is regulated by dynamic nanodomain protein complexes containing liprin-α1. Journal of Cell Biology 2025, 224(10):e202410210. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202410210
Ogle, G.D.; Wang, F.; Haynes, A.; Gregory, G.A.; King, T.W.; Deng, K.; Dabelea, D.; James, S.; Jenkins, A.J.; Ma, R.C.W.; Maahs, D.M.; Oram, R.A.; Pihoker, C.; Svensson, J.; Zhou, Z.; Magliano, D.J.; Maniam, J. Global type 1 diabetes prevalence, incidence, and mortality estimates 2025: Results from the International diabetes Federation Atlas, and the T1D Index Version 3.0. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice 2025, 225, 112277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112277
Amin, M.L.; Deng, K.; Tran, H.A.; Singh, R.; Rnjak-Kovacina, J.; Thorn, P. Glucose-Dependent Insulin Secretion from β Cell Spheroids Is Enhanced by Embedding into Softer Alginate Hydrogels Functionalised with RGD Peptide. Bioengineering 2022, 9(12):722. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering9120722
Deng, K.*; Jevon, D.*; Hallahan, N.*; Kumar, K.; Tong, J.; Gan, W.J.; Tran, C.; Bilek, M.; Thorn, P. Local activation of focal adhesion kinase orchestrates the positioning of presynaptic scaffold proteins and Ca2+ signalling to control glucose-dependent insulin secretion. eLife 2022, 11, e76262. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.76262 (*Contributed equally)
Deng, K.; Thorn, P. Presynaptic-like mechanisms and the control of insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells. Cell Calcium 2022, 104, 102585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceca.2022.102585