Dr. Dan Luciani (General Surgery) has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Luciani studies the mechanisms underlying pancreatic islet β-cell death. Intriguing new findings suggest that the cellular machinery that mediates cell ‘suicide’ also has important roles in normal β-cell function and can control if β-cells adapt or fail during the cellular stress associated with diabetes. Studying the impact of these mechanisms on single cell function and in the progression of diabetes will lead to new targets for diabetes prevention and therapy.