I am an endocrinologist and clinician scientist. I completed my PhD in 2018 at SVI, investigating the pathogenic targets of T cells from the peripheral blood of individuals with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. I completed my postdoctoral studies at the Benaroya Research Institute (Seattle, USA) under the supervision of TrialNet chair Dr Carla Greenbaum.

I am a member of TrialNet and am actively involved in a science working group aiming to improve the utility of islet autoantibodies for risk prediction and am leading a number of exploratory studies using Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet data to understand predictors of disease and risk heterogeneity. I am a member of the Coordinating Team for the Australasian Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Collaborative (ATIC), a clinical trials network of adult and paediatric endocrinologists, immunologists, clinical triallists and members of the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community across Australia and New Zealand, the aim of which is to accelerate the development and delivery of immunotherapy treatments for people with type 1 diabetes.

Key Achievements

2015-2018: NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship

2015-2018: Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund Top-up Scholarship

2018: St Vincent’s Institute Director’s Publication 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 Kay

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M. So, C. M. Elso, E. Tresoldi, M. Pakusch, V. Pathiraja, J. M. Wentworth, L. C. Harrison, B. Krishnamurthy, H. E. Thomas, C. Rodda, F. J. Cameron, J. McMahon, T. W. H. Kay, and S. I. Mannering. ‘Proinsulin C-Peptide is an Autoantigen in People with Type 1 Diabetes.’ Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115, no. 42 (16 Oct 2018): 10732-37. dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809208115.

Waibel M, Wentworth JM, So M, Couper JJ, Cameron FJ, MacIsaac RJ, Atlas G, Gorelik A, Litwak S, Sanz-Villanueva L, Trivedi P, Ahmed S, Martin FJ, Doyle ME, Harbison JE, Hall C, Krishnamurthy B, Colman PG, Harrison LC, Thomas HE, Kay TWH; BANDIT Study Group. ‘Baricitinib and β-Cell Function in Patients with New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes.’ N Engl J Med. 2023 Dec 7;389(23):2140-2150. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2306691.

 

So M, O’Rourke C, Bahnson HT, Greenbaum CJ, Speake C. ‘Autoantibody Reversion: Changing Risk Categories in Multiple-Autoantibody-Positive Individuals.’ Diabetes Care 2020 Apr;43(4):913-917. doi: 10.2337/dc19-1731

So M, O’Rourke C, Ylescupidez A, Bahnson HT, Steck AK, Wentworth JM, Bruggeman BS, Lord S, Greenbaum CJ, Speake C. ‘Characterising the age-dependent effects of risk factors on type 1 diabetes progression.’ Diabetologia. 2022 Apr;65(4):684-694. doi: 10.1007/s00125-021-05647-5