Rate My Professor Feyza Engin

Feyza Engin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine. She received her B.S. and M.Sc. from Istanbul University School of Pharmacy in 2001, Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in 2007, and completed postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University in 2013. Engin joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014, advancing from Assistant Professor to her current position. Her research centers on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a dynamic organelle critical for cellular homeostasis, development, and stress responsiveness. In response to cellular stress from toxins, unfolded proteins, and inflammation, the unfolded protein response (UPR) activates to sense and transduce perturbations in ER homeostasis. While UPR supports cell survival during acute stress, hyperactivation or unresolved stress leads to cell death. Engin's laboratory employs biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, -omics approaches, immunology, genetic, and pharmacological tools to dissect beta-cell-specific functions of UPR sensors and their roles in pancreatic beta-cell death and survival during type 1 diabetes (T1D) progression.

Key findings from her work demonstrate reduced adaptive UPR functions in beta-cells of T1D mouse models and human patients, with diabetes incidence lowered by mitigating beta-cell ER stress using chemical chaperones. Recent studies show beta-cell dedifferentiation via IRE1 alpha deletion prevents T1D, and stress-induced early senescence confers protection against the disease. Engin has earned prestigious awards including the 2014 NIH/NIDDK K01 Research Scientist Development Award, 2014 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Career Development Award, 2016 Shaw Scientist Award from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, 2018 Finalist for the American Diabetes Association Pathway to Stop Diabetes Accelerator Award, and 2023 Vilas Associate Award. She serves as Review Editor for Molecular Metabolism and on the Editorial Boards of Diabetes and Frontiers in Endocrinology. Notable publications include 'Restoration of the unfolded protein response in pancreatic β cells protects mice against type 1 diabetes' (Science Translational Medicine, 2013), 'Beta cell dedifferentiation induced by IRE1α deletion prevents type 1 diabetes' (Cell Metabolism, 2020), 'Adaptation to chronic ER stress enforces pancreatic β-cell plasticity' (Nature Communications, 2022), and 'Beyond bystanders: How β cell stress shapes the autoimmune response in T1D' (Science Translational Medicine, 2026). Her contributions have illuminated novel mechanisms in T1D pathogenesis, highlighting therapeutic potential for targeting beta-cell ER stress.