Pilar received her bachelor’s degree from the Biology program at the University of Valencia, Spain, and her interest in tissue bioengineering then lead her to join the “Bank of Tissue and Organs in the Transfusion Center of Valencia.” There she was involved in a project investigating in vitro models for obtaining human skin and cartilage tissues for use in transplantation. She received her Ph.D. from the Bioengineering Institute at the Universidad de Miguel Hernandez in Alicante, Spain, where her thesis was “The generation of insulin secreting cells through in vitro differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells.” Consolidating her interest in diabetes, she pursued postdoctoral studies in diabetes and pancreatic islet cell biology, particularly in regard to the role of glucokinase in pancreatic alpha-cells at the Rolf Luft Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. In September 2011, she joined the Chicago Diabetes Project in order to continue to work toward providing diabetic therapies, with the specific goal being the proliferation of pancreatic beta-cells as an insulin source. Her research interests are islet cell-based therapy in diabetes, beta-cell regeneration and proliferation, and additionally pancreatic development, tissue engineering and stem cell-based therapy.