With a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST, South Korea), where she worked on engineering multifunctional nanoparticle-polymer composites for targeted biomedical systems, Rabi joined MERLN in June 2026 as a postdoctoral researcher in the islet research group of Professor. Aart van Apeldoorn. Her research focuses on biomaterial-based platforms to support the survival and function of pancreatic beta-cells for type 1 diabetes therapy. Type 1 diabetes affects over 9 million people worldwide and results from the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta-cells, leaving patients dependent on lifelong insulin administration.

Current clinical approaches such as islet transplantation are severely limited by donor scarcity, poor engraftment, and immune rejection. To address this, she develops multifunctional 3D biomaterial systems to create a protective and supportive microenvironment for transplanted beta-cells, with the goal of enabling durable, insulin-independent diabetes remission.