To cure type 1 diabetes (T1D), we need to do two things: we need to address the autoimmune response that damages insulin-producing beta cells, and we need to replace lost beta cells to restore the ability to produce insulin.
Beta cells are found in clusters of multiple cell types in the pancreas. These clusters are called the islets of Langerhans – or islets for short. In order to understand how to protect and replace islets, we need to know as much about ‘healthy’ islets as possible and why they are destroyed in someone with T1D. Since islets can’t be studied within the body and islets can’t be donated by a living donor, researchers rely greatly on islets that are isolated from cadaveric pancreas donors.
Dr. Patrick MacDonald of the University of Alberta is a world leader in coordinating global islet samples and data for researchers, while fostering national training opportunities. Dr. MacDonald directs the Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI) IsletCore, the world’s largest ‘single source’ of human pancreas research tissue.
“Our goal with the ADI IsletCore, and other efforts we are involved in, is to elevate diabetes and transplantation research across Canada and internationally. With human research tissue we feel it is essential to share experimental results widely, to honour the selfless gifts of organ donors and to benefit the entire diabetes community,” says Dr. MacDonald.
ADI IsletCore in Canada
ADI IsletCore isolates and ships islets and pancreas tissue to a network of nearly 200 research labs around the world. With nearly 50 pancreas donors in 2025, they were able to distribute almost 7 million islet equivalent cells to researchers, bringing their grand total to 75 million islet equivalents distributed to date. This translates into over 300 scientific papers crediting ADI IsletCore for research support.
Islet database
With support from the Breakthrough T1D-CIHR Partnership to Defeat Diabetes, Dr. MacDonald and his team have developed a groundbreaking online database cataloguing the molecular, cellular, and physiological functions of islets from human organ donors acquired through ADI IsletCore.
HumanIslets.com allows researchers worldwide to explore islet function, proteins, and pathways comparing between donors with and without diabetes. They have leveraged this work for an additional $1.8M of funding including a Breakthrough T1D International grant for $750k to expand the platform to include stem cell-derived islets and integrate AI and machine learning into the analysis.
Dr. MacDonald’s research has significantly advanced cure research for T1D by integrating massive datasets from hundreds of human donors and making this resource publicly accessible.
International collaboration
Dr. MacDonald is now sharing his expertise internationally through collaboration on development of islet distribution centres.
In April 2026, Australia launched its first national Breakthrough T1D-funded islet distribution centre, which is critical given Australia’s remote location and need to collect local tissue for research. Dr. MacDonald is advising on this important new islet centre, that will further improve both global collaboration and our understanding of human islets.
In addition to his partnership in Australia, Dr. MacDonald is also collaborating on islet distribution programs in Michigan, USA and Sweden to further support a worldwide connected research network. He has recently published a paper in Diabetologia about coordinating global efforts to advance islet research through shared resources.
Training emerging leaders
Not only does Dr. MacDonald oversee IsletCore and run an active research lab, he also co-founded, and was the initial leadership group chair of, the Canadian Islet Research and Training Network (CIRTN). The CIRTN is a world-leading islet research and training network in Canada that looks to build upon Canada’s reputation for excellence in islet biology research by facilitating the exchange of information and ideas with in-person and virtual scientific meetings, enhancing mentorship and trainee career development, and promoting engagement and collaboration amongst islet researchers in Canada and worldwide. Breakthrough T1D has been pleased to collaborate with CIRTN to co-fund four cohorts of trainees. Dr. MacDonald’s work is a crucial piece of the puzzle understanding stem-cell derived islets and demonstrates the power of global collaboration, a key tenet of Breakthrough T1D’s research strategy. His contributions are getting us closer to being able to produce these cells at scale and to Canadians with T1D.
