Bernhard Hering, MD

Bernhard J. Hering, M.D., is Professor and Vice Chair of Translational Medicine in the Department of Surgery, Executive Director of the Schulze Diabetes Institute, and Director of Islet Transplantation at the University of Minnesota. He holds the Jeffrey Dobbs and David Sutherland, M.D., Ph.D. Chair in Diabetes Research and the McKnight Presidential Chair in Transplantation Science.

Dr. Hering is internationally recognized for his contributions to cell replacement therapies for diabetes and has played a central role in advancing clinical islet transplantation. His pioneering investigations into xenogeneic islets as a scalable cell source have reinvigorated the field of islet xenotransplantation. To eliminate the need for lifelong immunosuppression in islet transplant recipients, his team established a protocol that safely and effectively induces antigen-specific tolerance to transplanted islets in preclinical models. His current research is directed toward clinical translation of this breakthrough for patients with diabetes.

A sought-after speaker, Dr. Hering has delivered more than 300 invited lectures, including keynote lectures at national and international conferences. He has authored or co-authored over 350 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Hering has served on the Breakthrough T1D Beta Cell Replacement Consortium and on steering committees of key consortia of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in diabetes, immunology, and transplantation. Since the inception of the NIH Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry, he has served as its Medical Director.

Dr. Hering has held leadership positions as President of the Cell Transplant Society, International Xenotransplantation Association, and International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association (IPITA). His honors include the Paul E. Lacy Memorial Lecture Award from IPITA, regarded as the most prestigious international recognition in the field of cell therapy for diabetes.