New Faculty

Dr. Nathaniel Hogrebe joins the Department of Medicine

Nathaniel Hogrebe, PhD

Dr. Nathaniel Hogrebe joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research as an instructor in February 2023. Dr. Hogrebe grew up in the St. Louis, Missouri area. He moved to Ohio to continue his education, earning his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton in 2011 and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at The Ohio State University in 2016.  In the fall of 2016, he joined the Millman Lab at Washington University in St. Louis to continue his academic training as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, where he focused on generating stem cell-derived β (SC-β) cells for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes.

Building off his graduate work, Dr. Hogrebe was able to further improve the protocol for differentiating these SC-β cells during his postdoc by harnessing signaling pathways influenced by the insoluble culture microenvironment to enhance lineage specification and β cell function. Transplantation of these SC-β cells rapidly reverses diabetes in mice, demonstrating the potential of these cells to provide a functional cure for type 1 diabetic patients.  His key interests are on further developing cell based-therapies for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes. These areas of interest include improving SC-β cell identity, optimizing stem cell-derived islet composition, and developing immune-protection strategies for these cells after transplantation.