JDRF https://www.jdrf.org Improving Lives. Curing Type 1 Diabetes. Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:14:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 Two Highly Engaged Volunteer Leaders Elected to Head JDRF’s International Board of Directors  https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/03/13/two-volunteers-to-lead-jdrf-international-board-of-directors/ Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:45:00 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/?p=185187 The post Two Highly Engaged Volunteer Leaders Elected to Head JDRF’s International Board of Directors  appeared first on JDRF.

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Lisa Fishbone Wallack, an attorney by training and long-time volunteer leader in the greater New England area, will serve as JDRF International Board of Directors (IBOD) Chair, succeeding current Chair Grant Beard. Matt Varey, a senior executive at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and dedicated volunteer leader in the greater Toronto, Canada, area, will serve as JDRF IBOD Vice Chair, succeeding current Vice Chair Michelle Griffin.   

Lisa’s and Matt’s terms as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, begin Monday, July 1, 2024. 

Lisa Fishbone Wallack Continues Family’s Legacy of Championing JDRF’s Mission 

Lisa is a long-time volunteer leader of JDRF’s Greater New England Chapter, first getting involved with JDRF when her parents Marilyn and Dr. Gerald Fishbone were among the founders of JDRF (then known as “JDF”) after her brother Scott was diagnosed with T1D in 1969 at the age of 18 months, and then increasing her involvement after her son Harris was diagnosed in 2001 at the age of 5.   

 Locally, Lisa has served as President of the Greater New England Chapter Board and remains active with the chapter. Nationally, she has been a member of the IBOD for nine years and has served as Vice Chair of the IBOD, as Chair of the Talent and Compensation Committee, and as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee.     

Lisa is an attorney by training and is a volunteer leader at numerous other community organizations, leading annual, capital, and comprehensive campaigns and strategic committees.    

Lisa and her husband Neil are proud to be leadership donors to JDRF as well as donors to JDRF’s T1D Fund. She and her family participate in all JDRF programs, including the Walk and Gala, and she supports Neil’s participation in endurance events including the Boston Marathon, the JDRF Ride program, and Ironman Triathlons, which collectively have raised more than $1.4 million for JDRF.  

For their outstanding and continued support of JDRF, Lisa and Neil will be honored at the Greater New England Chapter’s Gala on Saturday, April 6.  

Lisa graduated with a B.A. in The Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania and with a J.D., summa cum laude, from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. In addition to their son Harris, Lisa and Neil have a son Perry and a daughter Sydney. They live in Weston, Massachusetts.  

Matt Varey Leads and Engages JDRF’s T1D Community   

Matt Varey is currently a senior executive at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)—the largest financial institution in Canada and one of the largest and most trusted in the world.   

As Senior Vice President, Matt is responsible for national leadership of more than 4,500 Canada-based employees entrusted with important client life events including personal investments, mortgage financing and group benefits, totaling more than $100 billion of human trust annually. Prior to joining RBC in 1987 and taking on a wide range of senior management and executive positions within RBC, Matt was Vice President and General Manager of RBC Suisse, RBC’s Global Private Banking operations in Geneva, Switzerland.    

 Matt is an ardent supporter of JDRF’s commitment to improving the lives of every person living with T1D and driving breakthroughs to cure the condition. His association and commitment to JDRF started in 2001 and he currently serves on the JDRF International Board of Directors and JDRF Canada Board of Directors. His diverse international leadership experience will be instrumental in continuing JDRF’s purposeful global mission and navigating the organization’s path forward in partnership with his JDRF Board of Directors colleagues.  

 His previous Board responsibilities included Chair of the Board of JDRF Canada and Board member of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada.   

Matt graduated from McMaster University and currently resides in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, with his wife, Dr. Andrea Jack.   

An Era of Unprecedented Breakthroughs 

This new leadership coincides with an era of unprecedented T1D breakthroughs championed by JDRF.  

“We are in a golden age of advanced medicine and continue to see incredible progress in T1D cures research—in both disease-modifying therapies and cell therapies,” said Aaron J. Kowalski, Ph.D., JDRF Chief Executive Officer. “As the leaders of our International Board of Directors, Lisa and Matt will ensure we will continue to drive cures and other life-changing breakthroughs forward through scientific advancements and advocacy.”   

“We thank Grant and Michelle, who amplified our global efforts to improve lives and accelerate cures. There has never been a more exciting time for our mission as cures are now a matter of when, not a matter of if,” Kowalski said. “The potential for transformation is nothing short of electrifying and we look forward to the progress to come during Lisa’s and Matt’s tenure.”    

About the JDRF International Board of Directors (IBOD)  

IBOD is the governing body for JDRF and is tasked with accelerating the organization’s mission progress toward life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat T1D and its complications. Learn more about JDRF’s volunteer and staff leadership.

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ATTD Brings Together Top Minds in Diabetes Research https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/03/13/attd-brings-together-top-minds-in-diabetes-research/ Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:31:24 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/?p=185218 Leading researchers gathered for the ATTD meeting, which featured more than 50 studies presented by JDRF-funded researchers.

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Leading researchers gathered in Florence, Italy, for the annual meeting of the Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD), which took place from March 6 through 9. There were more than 5,000 attendees and featured more than 50 studies presented by JDRF-funded researchers, funded now or in the past, working toward preventing, treating, and—one day—curing T1D and its complications.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Consensus Guidance—Pre-Stage 3 T1D: Why is guidance for monitoring people with presymptomatic (early stage) T1D important? As it turns out, there are a bunch of reasons. Chairing the JDRF-sponsored session was Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, Ph.D., APRN, CDCES, director of community screening and clinical trial education, who has been leading the international consensus monitoring guidance when it was announced at ATTD 2023.

Autoantibodies are antibodies against one’s own proteins. In T1D, there are three stages:
– Stage 1: 2+ autoantibodies, blood glucose is normal, no symptoms
– Stage 2: 2+ autoantibodies, blood glucose is abnormal, no symptoms
– Stage 3: 2+ autoantibodies, blood glucose is abnormal, clinical symptoms appear


Led by JDRF, more than 70 clinicians have worked together to use an evidence-based approach to determine how often people of different ages and with different numbers of autoantibodies for type 1 should be monitored for changes in blood sugar and autoantibodies. Primary purpose #1: Implementing global screening for early detection of T1D. Primary purpose #2: Preventing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life-threatening complication due to a shortage of insulin, which a significant percentage of people experience at T1D diagnosis.

They are almost done with the manuscript, and it will be published in the next few months.

The authors of the paper include Ake Lernmark, D.Med., who received grants from us since 1983 and was a JDRF Rumbough Award recipient, and Matthias von Herrath, M.D., who was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in 1993 and received numerous grants since.

  • Adjunctive Therapies: Viral Shah, M.D., presented on adjunct therapies, specifically GLP-1 stimulants, which have the potential to improve blood-sugar control in people with T1D. He highlighted the JDRF-funded study, ADJUST-T1D, which is assessing once-weekly semaglutide (Ozempic® / Rybelsus®) in adults with inadequately controlled T1D and obesity using automated insulin delivery (AID), or artificial pancreas, systems. GLP-1 therapies are not approved for people with T1D, but we hope they will be eventually. Read more about our work in bringing these therapies to market.
  • T1D Management: Osagie Ebekozien, M.D., of the T1D Exchange, gave an update on T1D management in the United States, presenting data demonstrating a move up in HbA1c outcomes, from 8.8 percent in 2016-2017 to 8.2 percent in 2022-2023. What’s more, HbA1c improvements were seen across all racial groups. This is the first update since 2019, when HbA1c outcomes were worse than they had been since 2010-2012 (7.8 percent in 2010-2012 versus 8.4 percent in 2016-2018). Still, the majority of people with T1D are not meeting their HbA1c targets. Perhaps more people will benefit from continuous glucose monitors (see below) and AID systems.

CGMs have gone from a rarity (6 percent use in 2011) to the standard of care, representing 84 percent of people with T1D. This is undoubtedly attributed to the JDRF-funded clinical trial, published in 2008, demonstrating that the use of a CGM helps people with T1D to avoid dangerous blood-sugar highs and lows.

  • Replacement: In a JDRF-sponsored session chaired and introduced by Esther Latres, Ph.D., Qizhi Tang, Ph.D., who is part of the JDRF Center for Excellence in Northern California, presented on barriers to adoption of cell therapy (lack of renewable cell sources, poor engraftment, and immunosuppression) and the field’s status in addressing those barriers. She drew attention to her own efforts to engineer stem cells that can evade immune rejection and remain alive after transplantation, including using thyroid gland co-transplantation, provision of proteins that help the graft survive, and removing specific immune markers to make the beta cells resistant to rejection.

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Natalie Stanback: Representing Women in Advocacy https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/03/12/natalie-stanback-representing-women-in-advocacy/ Tue, 12 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/03/12/natalie-stanback-representing-women-in-advocacy/ JDRF advocate Natalie Stanback knows type 1 diabetes and knows how to get things done on Capitol Hill. She encourages more women to get involved in advocacy.

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JDRF Advocacy spokesperson Natalie Stanback on Capitol Hill at the JDRF 2023 Children’s Congress

Natalie Stanback knows type 1 diabetes (T1D), she knows advocacy, and she knows how to get things done on Capitol Hill.

When her daughter, Nadia, was diagnosed with T1D at the age of 3, it did not come out of the blue. Natalie’s brother, Michael, had been diagnosed 24 years prior. “Given my prior knowledge and experience, Nadia’s diagnosis was breathtaking but not as traumatic as it could have been,” Natalie said.

Today, Nadia is thriving and almost entirely managing her T1D on her own. She’s a champion on the soccer field, involved in her middle school’s theatre program, and “the best big sister” to her siblings. Natalie attributes her daughter’s full and healthy life to advances driven by research and advocacy.

Advocating for Progress

Natalie and her family have been active in the type 1 diabetes community for years. Their involvement with JDRF started with One Walk and Team JDRF. That’s also where Natalie began speaking publicly about the positive impact JDRF makes on her family and everyone living with T1D.

Natalie entered the world of JDRF Advocacy at the JDRF 2019 Children’s Congress, where Nadia was a Delegate and spoke to her Members of Congress about what it’s like to live with T1D, and why Federal research funding and insulin affordability are critical. The experience made a huge impression on Natalie. “We loved the ability to do something,” she said. “It was such a tangible validation and inspiration.”

From then on, Natalie was a resounding voice in the T1D community. Good Morning America profiled the Stanback family in 2021 to raise awareness about T1D. In 2022, she briefed Congress on the real-world impact of the insulin affordability crisis. And Natalie served as Chair at the JDRF 2023 Children’s Congress, a full-circle moment for her and her family. “Helping to foster hope and ignite the advocacy fire in others has been tremendously rewarding,” she said.

Sharing her Story with the U.S. Senate

Most recently, in December 2023, Natalie testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) in a hearing about diabetes in America alongside JDRF CEO Aaron Kowalski, Ph.D. They spoke about the need for affordable insulin and the importance of renewing the Special Diabetes Program (SDP).

“The SDP has supported research that directly contributed to the development of the incredible devices Nadia relies on every day,” Natalie said to the Committee. “We need to ensure the advances made possible by this program continue.”

During the hearing, Natalie also discussed the impact T1D has on daily life. She admitted that even as a “glass half-full” family, the burden of T1D is immense. “It takes a village to raise a child,” she said. “It takes a city to raise a child with diabetes.”

Women Warriors

A photo of the Stanback Family

As a caregiver, Natalie faces her own challenges with T1D. “Burnout is real,” she said. “It’s important for me to catch the signs of it so I can manage the mental load and maintain mindfulness.”

She recognizes that women, whether they like it or not, are often the “default parent” when it comes to caring for a child with T1D. To her, that’s a perfect reason for more women to join in JDRF’s advocacy efforts.

“Women are trailblazers,” she said. “Our footsteps are the ones our children most commonly step into first. We have an opportunity to lead them into the future we dream of.”

Sadly, Natalie’s brother passed away from T1D complications in 2020. That fueled her drive for progress and cures even more. Natalie will continue advocating for Nadia, the memory of her brother, and the entire T1D community until the condition is a thing of the past. “A better future for my daughter is why I do this,” she said. “I am so grateful that JDRF has provided me with a platform to make it a reality.”

Learn more about how you can get involved in JDRF Advocacy.

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Nobel Laureates, Women, and Diabetes Discoveries https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/03/01/nobel-laureates-women-diabetes-discoveries-womens-history-month/ Fri, 01 Mar 2024 20:35:00 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/?p=146189 Gerty Cori, Ph.D., Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, FRS, and Rosalyn Yalow, Ph.D., won the Nobel Prize for diabetes discoveries.

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Gerty Cori, M.D. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, FRS. Rosalyn Yalow, Ph.D. You are correct in that they are Nobel Prize winners. But did you know that they were instrumental in discoveries that were crucial to understanding the development of diabetes and its treatment?

In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s take a look at these celebrated Nobel Prize winners.

Gerty Cori, Ph.D., and her husband won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 for discoveries related to carbohydrate metabolism. They uncovered how the body metabolizes sugars, showing that glycogen—a derivative of glucose—is broken down and used as a source of energy. They also found that insulin causes the removal of sugar from the blood.

Their discoveries were the first time the cycle of carbohydrates in the human body had been fully understood and explained and formed the foundation for later work in the management and treatment of diabetes.

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, FRS, is considered a founder of X-ray crystallography, a scientific technique that enables researchers to decipher the three-dimensional (3D) structures of biochemical compounds. She would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 for solving the atomic structure—not of insulin—but for penicillin and the vitamin B12. But insulin captured her imagination.

It took decades for X-ray crystallography and computing techniques to sufficiently advance to solve the structure of insulin in 1969. Hodgkin’s work with insulin was instrumental in the treatment of diabetes, both making mass production possible and allowing scientists to alter the structure of insulin to create even better drug options going forward.

Rosalyn Yalow, Ph.D., would receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1977 for discovering a technique, using insulin, to detect trifling amounts of any protein with a radioactive assay, called a radioimmunoassay.


Assay: A process of analyzing a substance to determine its composition or quality


Before then, it was impossible to diagnose various hormone-related conditions, like T1D. And because the method is so precise, Yalow and her collaborator, Solomon Berson, were able to prove that type 2 diabetes is caused by the body’s inefficient use of insulin. (Previously it was thought that the disease was caused by a lack of insulin.)

The assay, then, was used to form the fact that diabetes has two types: type 1, where the body does not produce insulin, and type 2, where the body does not utilize the insulin the pancreas produces properly.

Go here to learn more about JDRF and its commitment to creating a world without T1D.

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Top Researchers Gather for the 17th ATTD Conference https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/02/29/top-researchers-gather-17th-attd-conference/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:24:45 +0000 This year’s Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) meeting, which will be held on March 6-9, will have 50 JDRF-funded presenters.

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This year’s Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) meeting, taking place in Florence, Italy, from March 6 through 9, will have 50 presenters who are or were JDRF-funded researchers working toward preventing, treating, and—one day—curing T1D and its complications.

Several members of the JDRF research and advocacy teams will be there. Here are select highlights of JDRF-funded research that will be featured:

  • Replacement: There will be several sessions on stem cell-derived islet transplantation, including:
    • Camillo Ricordi, Ph.D., University of Miami, who will be presenting on challenges and potential solutions to stem cell-derived islet therapy as a cure for T1D;
    • A JDRF-sponsored session chaired and introduced by Esther Latres, Ph.D., who will gather Peter Senior, M.D., Ph.D., University of Alberta, Canada, Qizhi Tang, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, and José Oberholzer, M.D., University of Virginia and co-founder of CellTrans, which had the first FDA-approved cell replacement therapy (Lantidra™) in the United States in 2023;
    • A plenary Industry Symposium sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, who will likely provide an update on VX-880, a stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy in T1D for individuals with hypoglycemia unawareness, in combination with immunosuppressive therapy to protect the cells from rejection. As of the last presentation at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), parts A and B had been enrolled, and half of the people treated were insulin independent. We’ve heard that Part C, where participants receive a full dose of the therapy, has completed enrollment, so we’re excited to learn more about this treatment.
  • Prevention: In another JDRF-sponsored session chaired by Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, Ph.D., APRN, CDCES, Director of Community Screening and Clinical Trial Education, presenters Moshe Phillip, M.D., Schneider Children’s Medical Center and Tel Aviv University, Israel, Linda DiMeglio, M.D., Indiana University, Kirstine Bell, Ph.D., University of Sydney, Australia, and Emanuele Bosi, M.D., Fondazione Centro San Raffaele, Italy, will talk about the international consensus monitoring guidance for presymptomatic (early stage) T1D; the latter will talk about his experience in Italy, which recently approved a law allowing for national pediatric screening for T1D.
  • Immune Therapies: Laura Jacobsen, M.D., University of Florida, Jennifer Sherr, M.D., Ph.D., Yale University, and Michael Haller, M.D., University of Florida, will talk about predictors of responders vs. non-responders of immune therapy, Tzield™ (teplizumab-mzwv) in the real-world setting, and the cost-effectiveness of immune therapy, respectively.
  • Health Equity: ATTD will have several sessions on health equity in the United States and around the world, with Renza Scibilia, JDRF, and Antoinette Moran, M.D., University of Minnesota, talking about the T1D Index, the most accurate and comprehensive data representation of T1D around the world, and the key interventions required to address health disparities experienced by people with T1D. Lori Laffel, M.D., Joslin Diabetes Center, and Stuart Weinzimer, M.D., Yale University, will talk about strategies to facilitate technology use among disadvantaged individuals.

Stay tuned on social media—Facebook at @myJDRF, X (formerly Twitter) at @JDRF, and LinkedIn—for more exciting news at ATTD.

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March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/02/28/how-can-i-support-autoimmune-disease-awareness-month/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 02:47:00 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/?p=159590 It’s Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month—but what are autoimmune diseases?

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It’s Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month—but what are autoimmune diseases? Autoimmune diseases occur when a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks another part of the person’s own body. This response can result in a range of diseases, depending on which parts of the body are affected. In type 1 diabetes (T1D), the body targets the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone that helps the body convert sugar to fuel.

There are between 80-100 different autoimmune diseases and around 50 million Americans have one or more autoimmune diseases. This includes a fifth of the T1D community who in addition to type 1 diabetes, can experience thyroid disorders, celiac disease, or Addison’s disease.  A recent study also found that women may be more prone to autoimmune diseases than men. Although there has yet to be a cure for any autoimmune disease, JDRF wants to change that. As part of our mission to cure, prevent, and treat T1D and its complications, our research also has the potential to impact other autoimmune diseases.

How Can I Support Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month?  
You can do just that! Spread awareness of autoimmune diseases by:

Why is screening and monitoring for T1D so important?  
Because most people do not have a family history of T1D, symptoms and a diagnosis often occur out of the blue. Many people require hospitalization at diagnosis because their blood sugars are extremely high, and they are very sick. To avoid this risk, everyone should be able to test for type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. Screening can help give families time to prepare and develop a plan for further monitoring with their doctor.

If you do one thing during this year’s National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month, please keep using your voice to continue the discussion about autoimmune diseases and share your own experiences within your community. Forward this post to a friend or family member and inspire them to get involved.

This post was originally written and published on the JDRF Greater New England Chapter’s blog here. 

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JDRF T1D Fund Invests in vTv Therapeutics https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/02/28/jdrf-t1d-fund-invests-vtv-therapeutics/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 13:14:19 +0000 With an investment from the JDRF T1D Fund, vTv Therapeutics will run a phase III clinical trial of cadisegliatin (TTP399), an adjunct therapy to insulin.

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vTv Therapeutics (vTv), a biopharmaceutical company developing an adjunctive therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D), announced a $51 million financing round, including an investment from the JDRF T1D Fund, JDRF’s venture philanthropy arm.

vTv will use this financing to fund a phase III clinical trial of cadisegliatin (TTP399), an adjunct therapy to insulin for people with T1D. Per vTv, this trial is expected to begin in 2024.

Cadisegliatin is a liver-selective glucokinase (or GK) activator. GK in the liver and other organs acts as a critical regulator of sugar levels in the body. When blood sugar levels rise, activation of GK in the liver stimulates glucose utilization, lowering glucose levels in the blood. Cadisegliatin is administered as a tablet.

After completing several studies in participants with type 2 diabetes, vTv Therapeutics joined forces with JDRF in 2017 to also test cadisegliatin in people with T1D. In the phase II clinical trial, called Simplici-T1, cadisegliatin significantly improved HbA1c in people with T1D. Additionally, trial participants who received cadisegliatin showed a reduction in insulin dose, reduced hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and no increase in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).


JDRF has funded studies into glucokinase since the early 1980s, including funding for Franz Matschinsky, M.D., who made the seminal discovery of glucokinase as the primary glucose sensor in the pancreas. With funding from JDRF, he went on to collaborate with then-unknown scientists who today are leaders in the diabetes space, including Mark A. Magnuson, M.D., who is now the leading investigator on glucokinase activity, and Barbara Corkey, Ph.D., who is known for her pivotal work on obesity and diabetes.


JDRF is excited that the Fund’s investment will continue this partnership and help move this promising therapy through the drug development pipeline into a phase III clinical trial.

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World-Renowned Researchers Gather at the JDRF-nPOD Annual Meeting https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/02/27/world-renowned-researchers-gather-jdrf-npod-annual-meeting/ Tue, 27 Feb 2024 14:37:01 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/?p=185021 Leading researchers gathered in Long Beach, California, for the 16th annual meeting of the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD).

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Leading researchers gathered in Long Beach, California, for the 16th annual meeting of the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD), which took place from February 19 through 22. nPOD is now the world’s largest tissue bank dedicated to the study of the human pancreas in type 1 diabetes (T1D), and researchers, clinicians, people with T1D, and other leaders in the diabetes space attended—more than 200—to hear results from the latest advances using nPOD samples.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • JDRF staff Esther Latres, Ph.D., vice president of research at JDRF, and Josh Vieth, Ph.D., director of research focusing on disease-modifying therapies, co-chaired a session on the cellular mechanisms in and around T1D:
    • JDRF-funded Tim Tree, Ph.D., presented on islet-specific immune responses, with the goal of developing a tool to measure them in clinical trials. He discovered that islet-specific immune cells have distinct characteristics and pointed to the potential for correlation of immune cell characteristics with (i) age of onset, (ii) clinical progression, and (iii) genetic protection.
    • Melanie Shapiro, Ph.D., who has a JDRF postdoctoral fellowship, identified an immune cell receptor pattern in blood moving throughout the circulatory system (as opposed to blood in a specific organ, like the pancreas) that was augmented in T1D, compared to blood that was non-T1D. This pattern was used to run multiple analyses, and all of the associations showed increased frequency of this pattern and gene mutations for T1D.
    • Carla Di Dedda, Ph.D., presented on her JDRF grant on the glucose transporter GLUT1. Seven to eight percent of pancreas transplant recipients have a recurrence of T1D without rejection of their organ donation, and Dr. Di Dedda focused on GLUT1 as a culprit. She found that in people with T1D, immune cell proliferation was significantly reduced when GLUT1 was blocked, which will be instrumental in future research on the roles of GLUT1 in T1D.
  • Miguel Medina-Serpas, who is a graduate student with Todd Brusko, Ph.D.—who received early-career scientist grants from 2008 through 2017 from JDRF and three grants since—presented on visual-spatial gene expression on paired pancreas and lymph node slices. He found that it could reliably identify functional compartments of the pancreas. This could help to validate gene targets for therapeutic use.
  • Esra Karakose, Ph.D., from the laboratory of Andrew Stewart, Ph.D., at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, focused on the action of beta cell regenerative drugs and which subtypes are responsible for treatment. Her lab found that the most responsive is the cycling alpha cell, which cluster between alpha and beta cells. She explained that cycling alpha cells become “beta-like cells” in response to treatment with the drugs DMSO and harmine, which may restore the beta cells that are lost in people with T1D.

Since being established in 2007 with a $7 million grant from JDRF, nPOD has collected and processed more than 50,000 tissue samples from organ donors who had or were at increased risk for T1D. nPOD is conducting more than 250 studies to unlock the mysteries of the human pancreas. For more information on nPOD, you can visit their website here.

You are helping us advance toward preventing, treating, and—one day—curing T1D. Find out more about JDRF here.

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Bench to Bedside: JDRF-nPOD Conference https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/02/16/bench-bedside-jdrf-npod-conference-2/ Fri, 16 Feb 2024 15:03:29 +0000 https://www.jdrf.org/?p=184935 Leading scientists will gather for the annual meeting of the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD), held February 19-22 in California.

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Leading researchers from around the world will gather for the 16th annual meeting of the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD), taking place from February 19-22 in Long Beach, California. The latest advances—using nPOD samples—will be discussed, including:

  • Enhanced T Cell Receptors: There are several presentations on T cell receptors (TCRs)—which recognize a foreign substance and cause the T cell to attack—to restore immune tolerance in T1D. Immunocore, a company with an investment from the JDRF T1D Fund, will present on ImmTAAI, a TCR that binds to the beta cell with an antibody that down-regulates the immune system. Also with support from the T1D Fund is Abata Therapeutics, which will present on their TCR that will restore immune tolerance by bringing regulatory T cells to the islet cells and promote immune suppression.

Since it was established in 2007 with a $7 million grant from JDRF, nPOD has collected and processed more than 50,000 tissue samples from organ donors who had or were at increased risk for T1D, and has provided, without cost, these tissues to researchers around the world.


  • Change the Current Staging Model: In a JDRF-support-bonanza, going back to 1992 with a postdoctoral fellowship to Alberto Pugliese, M.D.—who is now the co-director of nPOD—we will hear from several investigators who will debate on when T1D begins and whether we should modify the current staging model. The current staging model has three parts: Stage 1 is the presence of 2+ autoantibodies—antibodies against one’s own body—but blood sugar is normal; Stage 2 is 2+ autoantibodies and the blood sugar is abnormal; Stage 3 is the onset of clinical symptoms. We can’t wait to hear the outcome of this discussion!
  • Clinical Trials: JDRF staff Esther Latres, Ph.D., vice president of research at JDRF, and Josh Vieth, Ph.D., director of research focusing on disease-modifying therapies, are co-chairing a session on clinical trials. JDRF-funded Tim Tree, Ph.D., will present on a test to determine islet-specific T cells; Melanie Shapiro, Ph.D., who has a JDRF postdoctoral fellowship, will discuss immune risk and changes to the TCR repertoire; Carla Di Dedda, Ph.D., will present on her JDRF grant on the glucose transporter GLUT1; and Guido Sebastiani, Ph.D., will discuss microRNAs—which play an important role in regulating gene expression—associated with T1D.

Keep up with the latest updates and exciting news from the nPOD annual meeting on Facebook (@myJDRF), X (formerly Twitter) (@JDRF), and LinkedIn.

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JDRF Applauds Grammy Award-winning Artist Usher and NFL Champion Noah Gray https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2024/02/09/jdrf-applauds-usher-and-nfl-champion-noah-gray/ Sat, 10 Feb 2024 02:21:52 +0000 The Super Bowl MVPs for Type 1 Diabetes Awareness.

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Multi-talented star Usher and NFL champion Noah Gray of the Kansas City Chiefs are helping to shine a much-needed spotlight on type 1 diabetes (T1D) during the 2024 NFL Super Bowl LVIII.

Usher Turns up the Volume on T1D

As Usher was preparing for his highly-anticipated Super Bowl Halftime show and album release, he was also using his platform to raise awareness about type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the importance of screening. In several media interviews leading up to the big event, he shared his personal journey as a T1D parent. He talked about his now teenage son’s diagnosis at the age of six, emphasizing the need for more understanding of T1D and early detection.

Noah Gray, A T1D Champion on and off the Football Field 

Noah Gray, a standout tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, was diagnosed with T1D during his freshman year at Duke University. Despite the life-changing diagnosis, he remained determined to pursue his dreams. He learned how to manage his T1D and the highs and lows effectively and continued to excel academically and athletically. 

Noah’s perseverance paid off when he was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 NFL draft. He further cemented his place in the league, playing a pivotal role in the Chiefs’ victory at the 2023 Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles, before setting his eyes on adding another ring to his collection this year.

Noah is a shining example of how individuals with T1D can excel in sports at any level, thanks to T1D research advancements and breakthrough therapies and technologies to help manage the disease. He is a champion on and off the football field who has been raising awareness and sharing his story to inspire other T1D youth and fellow athletes since college. His empowering message encourages people with T1D to speak openly and never be afraid to share their diagnosis. He also urges T1D youth and adults to prioritize managing the condition and seek support whenever needed.

JDRF T1Detect Education and Awareness Program for T1D Risk

Type 1 diabetes screening involves a blood test to check for pancreatic islet autoantibodies associated with the disease, enabling families to plan, prepare, and prevent life-threatening complications like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and hospitalization at the time of diagnosis. Early detection also opens the opportunity to possibly benefit from therapies that delay the onset of T1D or enroll in studies where other innovative therapeutic options may be available.

T1Detect, JDRF’s education and awareness program for T1D risk screening, provides information about where to get screened and important resources that are available after the results are received. 

Visit JDRF.org/T1Detect to learn more.

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