[1] The Edmonton protocol involves isolating islets from a cadaveric donor pancreas using a mixture of enzymes called Liberase (Roche).
The Edmonton protocol was primarily developed by James Shapiro (transplant surgeon), Jonathan Lakey Ph.D., Dr Edmond Ryan (endocrinologist), Gregory Korbutt Ph.D., Dr. Ellen Toth, Dr. Garth Warnock, Dr. Norman Kneteman, and Ray Rajotte Ph.D., at the University of Alberta Hospital and the Surgical-Medical Research Institute.
[1] The NEJM report was exciting for the diabetes field because the seven patients undergoing the Edmonton protocol remained insulin-independent after an average of 12 months.
Insulin independence is not usually sustainable in the long term, but the transplanted islets still function enough to provide protection from severe hypoglycemic episodes and unawareness.
[2] A webpage maintained by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that the Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry's 2010 annual report A study in 2022 showed that of the 255 patients receiving transplantation between 1999 and 2019, the median graft survival time was 5.9 years.