Rocio Sancho obtained her PhD in immunology at the University of Cordoba (Spain). She completed her postdoctoral research in the Mammalian Genetics lab at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute where she specialised in studying intestinal tissue stem cells and their function in homeostasis and cancer. As a Senior Scientist in the Adult Stem Cell lab at the Francis Crick Institute she turned her interests in mammalian cell differentiation to the study of cell fate decisions in adult pancreatic progenitors and began to explore their potential to treat diabetes. Rocio Sancho started her independent career as a Group Leader in the Centre for Gene Therapy & Regenerative Medicine at King’s in 2017.

Research interests

Our group is fascinated by the inherent plasticity of seemingly differentiated pancreatic cells and the molecular cues behind cell fate changes. Our work uncovered a latent capacity for regeneration in the pancreas, which could be harnessed to replace crucial insulin-producing cells lost to disease. The main goal in our lab is to decipher the fundamental regulatory networks involved in pancreatic cell fate decisions using adult pancreas organoids and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and to apply this knowledge to new strategies in regenerative medicine for diabetes.