Breakthrough T1D provides seed funding for highly innovative research with significant potential to accelerate the most promising type 1 diabetes (T1D) research in both cures and approaches to improve disease management. Breakthrough T1D Innovation Grants address key challenges in T1D research and have the potential to generate ground-breaking discoveries. These grants support a wide range of projects, including developing new treatments and insulin formulations, advanced glucose monitoring technologies, and preserving insulin-producing beta cells, all to help with finding cures and improving lives of those affected with T1D.
Breakthrough T1D is thrilled to announce that two Canadian researchers have recently been awarded one-year Innovation Grants for their T1D studies focusing on creating a new treatment to treat diabetic retinopathy (Dr. Chakrabarti) and on developing new technology that delivers amylin to the body to improve blood sugar control (Dr. Maikawa).
Dr. Subrata Chakrabarti (University of Western Ontario)
Dr. Chakrabarti, who received his medical degree in India and his PhD in Pathology from the University of Manitoba, is a professor in the Department of Pathology at Western University and a pathologist at London Health Sciences Centre. He specializes in the research of chronic diabetic complications, with diabetic retinopathy and cardiomyopathy being his two main areas of focus.
His current research focuses on stopping a molecule called HOTAIR (HOX antisense intergenic RNA) that can cause damage in the eyes of people with diabetes. This damage can lead to a serious eye disease called diabetic retinopathy (DR), which can cause blindness. HOTAIR controls other harmful molecules in the eye. The goal is to create a new treatment using a small silencing RNA molecule (siRNA) that can be given as an intraocular injection or an eyedrop to block HOTAIR and help prevent DR. They will conduct experiments using cells from the eye, rats, and mice to analyze the biochemical, functional, and structural effects of the treatment, both in living organisms (in vivo) and in controlled lab environments (in vitro), to improve DR treatments.
Dr. Caitlin Maikawa (University of Toronto)
Dr. Caitlin Maikawa, an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, completed her PhD at Stanford University, focusing on diabetes management and insulin delivery. She then continued her research as a postdoctoral researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, developing sensors for tracking long-term inflammation in the body. Her current research in the Maikawa Lab focuses on drug delivery in diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Caitlin Maikawa is currently working to develop a ‘smart’ amylin formulation that reduces the need for multiple injections associated with its use. Amylin is a hormone released from beta cells in the pancreas alongside insulin, and its production is unfortunately also decreased in T1D patients. When administered to those with type 1, amylin slows down the absorption of sugar from a meal into the blood stream, resulting in a smaller blood sugar spike after meals.
Despite the availability of pramlintide, a drug version of amylin, its requirement for injections at every meal limits its use. This study therefore aims to develop a new formulation for the drug that would deliver amylin in pulses at mealtimes throughout the day after a single injection in the morning. This builds on Breakthrough T1D’s ongoing support for dual-hormone insulin therapies, with Dr. Haidar and his team of researchers studying pramlintide and its addition to an artificial pancreas to improve glucose control alongside insulin.
Breakthrough T1D Canada will continue to support work that aims to prevent, treat and improve the lives of people with T1D. We will provide updates on these exciting Innovation Grants as they become available.
