Severe chronic pancreatitis is treated by removing the pancreas. Without a pancreas, patients also lose insulin-producing cells called islets. To preserve insulin responses, surgeons transplant islets to the liver, which has poor outcomes. New strategy uses a synthetic gel to transplant islets to the omentum, showing promise in small and large animal studies. With the new approach, more islets survived transplantation and grew blood vessels into the omentum.