If 2022 was a year of hope, 2023 was one of turning that hope into progress. And thanks to our incredible community of donors, volunteers, and supporters – we saw significant progress across all areas of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and developed an even closer relationship with the amazing T1D community.
From the generosity of our donors, JDRF Canada had another transformative year– dedicating substantive funding to research, strengthening our partnerships in academia, continuing to support newly diagnosed families, while never losing focus on our goal of finding cures for T1D while improving the lives of people affected by the disease today.
Highlights from the past year included:
- Launching our Mental Health + Diabetes Training Course and Directory in collaboration with Diabetes Canada
- Building capacity for the future of T1D research in Canada through training the next generation of researchers and clinicians
- Improved device coverage in New Brunswick, Manitoba and British Columbia through our Access For All advocacy program
- Advocacy campaigns in Alberta and Nova Scotia for improved access to diabetes technologies like advanced glucose monitors and insulin pumps
- Reaching thousands of Canadians through our Let’s Talk T1D Education Series, bringing experts into their homes to discuss topics important to them
- Continued support to newly diagnosed families and adults through our Bag of Hope and No Limits Care Kit programs
- Bringing our community together at our Walk, Ride, JDRF Golf Marathon and Cocktails for a Cure and Light the Way Soiree events
- Continued progress with our $100 Million Campaign to Accelerate
- The T1D Superhero Card campaignlaunched, a unique tool that allowed us to spotlight the T1D superheroes among us through National Diabetes Awareness Month
- Welcoming our new Board Chair Helena Gottschling
- Announcing the retirement of Dave Prowten, who provided a decade of leadership as CEO and President and the appointment of Jessica Diniz as his predecessorwho will ably take the reins and continue to steward JDRF Canada’s strategic vision with the care our community has come to expect
T1D research highlights
In Cell Replacement:
- JDRF Canada and Stem Cell Network announced the second recipient of the J. Andrew McKee Fellowship in Type 1 Diabetes with a third fellowship opportunity launched
- JDRF Centre of Excellence at UBC marks two years of innovation in type 1 diabetes cure research
- Ontario life sciences startup, Allarta, receives award from JDRF International to advance its work in creating a functional cure for type 1 diabetes
- New developments in islet cell therapies for type 1 diabetes
- Exciting updates from Vertex stem cell-based therapy clinical trials
In Disease-Modifying Therapies:
- Teplizumab, which was approved by the FDA in the USA in late 2022 (under the name Tzield) was shown to also delay disease progression in youth aged 8-17 years old in stage 3 T1D.
- Additional funding support towards Zucara, a once-daily drug that may help prevent hypoglycemic episodes in people with T1D
- New once-daily insulin treatment a possibility
In Treatments to Improve Lives:
- The JDRF-CIHR Partnership to Defeat Diabetes announcement of 4 new grants in Precision Medicine, the goal of which is to get the right treatment to the right person at the right time.
- Funding programs devoted to improving mental health care and outcomes for people with T1D, including the CIHR-JDRF Mental Health grants
In Screening:
- In collaboration with CIHR, JDRF announced the development of CanScreen, a new Canadian T1D screening consortium led by Dr. Diane Wherrett.
- JDRF continues to help facilitate screening for relatives of those with T1D at Sick Kids Hospital via TrialNet
In Clinical Trials:
- A renewed focus on helping raise awareness of the importance of clinical trials for moving forward critical T1D research, through a social media campaign and new webpage
- A new tool to make finding T1D clinical trials recruiting in Canada easier and simpler – due to launch early 2024.
To read more about research updates, please visit www.breakthrought1d.ca/blog.
2023 was truly a year of incredible progress and momentum both in type 1 diabetes research and at JDRF. As we head into 2024 and the 50th anniversary of JDRF Canada, we reflect on how none of this would be possible without the support of our donors, volunteers and the incredible T1D community. Thank you! We truly believe that a world free from T1D is closer than ever.
