Dr. Jannette M. Dufour is currently a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry in the School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Associate Director of the Obesity Research Institute. She received a Ph.D. in Genetics and Cell Biology at Washington State University in 1999. The focus of her research is to explore the therapeutic potential of immune-privileged Sertoli cells as a means to improve outcomes of transplantation. Specifically, her lab is testing the feasibility of using immune-privileged Sertoli cells for cell-based gene therapy and examining the mechanism(s) of Sertoli cell immune protection to improve the survival of insulin-expressing cells as a treatment for diabetes. Her research has been funded by several national and local agencies, including the NIH, American Diabetes Association, and Texas ARP and has been selected for the cover photo for Cell Transplantation (2008), Spermatogenesis (2012), and DNA and Cell Biology (2018) and highlighted in Biology of Reproduction (2014) and Nature Medicine (2018).