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International Women’s Day (IWD) asks us to imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. The theme for #IWD2025 is that we can all #AccelerateAction.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been around for over a hundred years, and many of the issues it addresses unfortunately still remain. IWD reminds us to celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness about discrimination and to take action to forge gender parity.

Breakthrough T1D Canada is proud to celebrate the achievements of the Canadian women researchers who have blazed a trail in the field of type 1 diabetes (T1D), and who have helped us in our mission of making everyday life better for people living with the disease as we work towards cures tomorrow.

Learn more about Dr. Priscilla White, an early pioneer in diabetes research and treatment, Dr. Dorothy C. Hodgkin who first discovered the three-dimensional structure of insulin, Dr. Helen M. Free, who along with her husband created Clinistix, allowing people to check their glucose at home, a significant advance in disease management. These women played a critical and essential role in advancing understanding of T1D, so that future generations of researchers could build upon their work.

Today, Breakthrough T1D Canada funding helps support many women T1D researchers who are continuing the legacy of those who came before them. They are now charting their own paths by investigating potential cures, new disease-modifying therapies, precision medicine, new and better refined diabetes devices, researching screening and T1D prevention and improving mental health supports to make life better for people living with T1D.

Meet the women researchers who have been supported by Breakthrough T1D Canada funding over the past year:

3 new trainees in partnership with the Canadian Islet Research and Training Network

Dr. Summer Helmi. Postdoctoral Fellow
Optimizing Neonatal Porcine Islet Differentiation Using the PBS Mini Vertical-Wheel ® Bioreactor: Advancing Xenotransplantation for Type 1 Diabetes

This innovative project explores a promising approach to treating type 1 diabetes using neonatal porcine islets (NPIs) as a cell replacement therapy. While NPIs offer advantages over other methods, optimizing their production for clinical use remains a challenge. This work could overcome critical hurdles in NPI production, bringing us closer to a more effective and accessible treatment for type 1 diabetes. The project aims to advance porcine islet differentiation strategies and transform diabetes care worldwide.

Dr. Nayara Rampazzo Morelli, Postdoctoral Fellow
Investigating a potential drug target in human beta cells during type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is well known for its autoimmune aspects which leads to loss of most of the beta cells in the body and insulin deficiency. How the process of beta cell loss occurs remains uncertain, but recent work indicates that the accumulation of stressed beta cells can accelerate T1D onset. The aim of this study is to evaluate a particular drug target in stressed human beta cells to determine whether this approach could be used to delay the progression of T1D or improve symptoms in people living with T1D.

Dr. Shreyasi Sarkar, Postdoctoral Fellow
Assessing the potential of targeting 14-3-3z to restore functional beta cell mass

Dr. Sarkar’s research focuses on identifying new ways to increase beta cell number (mass) to treat T1D. I study a protein called 14-3-3z, and earlier work from Dr. Lim showed that targeting this protein during early development in mice improved insulin secretion and beta cell mass, making this protein a promising target for diabetes treatment. Dr. Sarkar is now exploring a new approach using Antisense Oligonucleotides (a synthetic strand of nucleotide that can modulate protein expression) to target this protein after birth and explore whether similar improvements can be achieved. This may represent a new approach to treat diabetes.

J. Andrew McKee Fellowship in Type 1 Diabetes

Dr. Alyssa Weinrauch, Breakthrough T1D Canada Centre of Excellence at UBC
Dr. Weinrauch’s work focuses on understanding how lipids affect the development and maturation of stem cell derived beta cells. Stem cell derived beta cells offer unlimited potential for curative therapy of T1D. However, currently they do not mature to the same level as human islets, and we believe that lipids may be involved in getting the immature stem cell derived beta cells to that final maturation stage.

The Knowledge Mobilization in Diabetes Prevention and Treatment operating grants, led by the CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, in partnership with Breakthrough T1D, provide researchers and knowledge users the opportunity to work together to use research evidence to improve health services, programs, and policies.

Anne-Sophie Brazeau, McGill University – Integrating an online training platform into type 1 diabetes clinical care to empower self-management

Dr. Brazeau and her team will evaluate the implementation strategies for integrating SUPPORT, an online training platform, as part of clinic care and put in place activities to help make health care practitioners aware of the innovation. The aim will be to increase the use and uptake of the platform as well as shorten the time needed to translate research results into practice, ultimately improving the lives of people with T1D.

Valeria E Rac, University Health Network – Connecting diabetic retinopathy screening programs in Ontario.

Dr. Rac and her team will develop a pathway towards the creation of a provincial diabetic retinopathy screening program that includes a provincial registry. The team will also assess the screening needs of different patient populations living with diabetes across the province and set up knowledge gathering workshops to improve access to diabetic retinopathy screening programs, thereby improving eye health for those individuals living with diabetes.

Liris P Smith, Yukon University – Yukon experiences in management of type 1 diabetes: Patient and provider perspectives

Dr. Smith and her team will explore and describe the experiences of people and caregivers of people with T1D in Yukon, recognizing that the needs of the community are unique and that access to care is often limited in rural settings. The grant will allow the team to also describe the experiences of Yukon primary care providers for people living with T1D, with the ultimate goal to improve access to care and management supports.

Principle investigators on Breakthrough T1D-funded research projects

Dr. Shazhan Ahmed
Precise Treatment for Pediatric Diabetes: Providing the right care, for the right patient, at the right time, over time.

Dr. Gillian Booth
Evaluating innovative health care solutions to improve outcomes for persons with type 1 diabetes using a novel electronic data repository

Dr. Sonia Butalia
Aiming for Something Sweeter: Supporting youth with type 1 diabetes during transition from pediatric to adult diabetes care

Dr. Yi-Chen Chun
Translational and post-translational regulation of islet prohormones in T1D

Dr. Deborah Da Costa
Adaptation and pilot evaluation of a digital intervention targeting the psychosocial needs of individuals with pregestational diabetes: A mixed-methods multi-phase study

Dr. Jayne Danska
Microbiome regulation of beta-cell autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes

Dr. Megan Levings
Two studies:
Harmonizing biomarkers in clinical trials of ustekinumab

Innate & adaptive immune regulation in type 1 diabetes

Dr. Caitlyn Maikawa
Polymer materials for glucose-responsive delivery of amylin analogues

Dr. Despoina Manousaki
Development of a trans-ancestral genetic risk score for type 1 diabetes

Dr. Shweta Mital
Economics of screening and prevention of type 1 diabetes in Canada

Dr. Cristina M. Nostro
Three studies:
Macrophage-mediated strategies for promoting vascularization and immunotolerance in islet cell replacement therapies

Immune evasive islet-like cells by reduced immune recognition and local immune control

Using novel transplantation strategies and HLA-edited hypoimmunogenic hPSCs to develop a superior islet-like product for T1D treatment

Dr. Sara Nunes de Vasconcelos
Development of a new cell-based vascularization approach to improve b-cell survival

Dr. Amanda Oakie
Elucidating the role of Notch signaling in the proliferation of human stem cell-derived pancreatic endocrine cell development

Dr. Mahla Poudineh
A pH responsive hydrogel microneedle patch for continuous measurement of ketone bodies and glucose

Dr. Kacey Prentice
Elucidating the role of the Fabkin hormone complex in metabolic disease

Dr. Elizabeth Rideout
Leveraging biological sex and genetics for beta cell-directed precision medicine in type 1 diabetes

Dr. Marie Eve Robinson
Teaching adolescents with type 1 diabetes self-compassion (TADS) to reduce diabetes distress: A randomized controlled trial

Dr. Hyekyoung Sung
Enabling precision medicine in type 1 diabetes (T1D): leveraging integrative multiomics to understand T1D endotypes for therapy

Dr. Tricia Tang
Four studies:
Implementing a virtual care platform to improve mental health for type 1 diabetes in rural and remote regions of Interior British Columbia

Using a virtual care platform to deliver peer-led mental health support to rural and remote communities in BC: A randomized wait-list controlled trial of the REACHOUT intervention

Using a virtual care platform to deliver peer-led mental health support to rural and remote communities in BC: A randomized wait-list controlled trial of the REACHOUT intervention

The Mental Health and Diabetes Training Program: Preparing a new generation of providers

Dr. Alanna Weisman
Achieving equitable uptake and use of diabetes technologies among adults with type 1 diabetes

Dr. Diane Wherrett
Canadian population screening for risk of type 1 diabetes research consortium (CANScreen)

Dr. Holly Witteman
Find Your CommuniT1D: Customized virtual peer support for people living with type 1 diabetes

Dr. Xiao Yu (Shirley) Wu
Development of targeted nanoparticles for delivering therapeutics to islet cells for treatment of T1D

To read more about other Breakthrough T1D-funded women researchers: www.breakthrought1d.ca/research/meet-our-researchers/

Breakthrough T1D Canada – an all-women research department.
Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Sarah Linklater, along with her team Dr. Lara Green, Dr. Anne Marie MacDonald and Tafadzwa Kadye use their science backgrounds and passion for research to help Breakthrough T1D select and accelerate the most promising T1D research in Canada, and to effectively communicate this research to our stakeholders, government officials and collaboration partners in industry, academia and other non-profit organizations.

Christine Touringy, with support from Dr. Linklater oversees Breakthrough T1D Canada’s Mental Health + Diabetes Strategy as a maternity leave replacement for Amanda Hailman and is helping to maintain the momentum of this program, which works to address the critical gap in healthcare and community programming for mental health supports specific to diabetes.

Breakthrough T1D Canada – A woman led organization
In late 2023 Jessica Diniz took on the role of President and CEO of Breakthrough T1D Canada. In April 2023 Helena Gottschling was announced as Board Chair. Both work to ensure Breakthrough T1D Canada can deliver on its strategy, mission, and promise as an organization to donors, supporters, staff and all Canadians affected by T1D.

Breakthrough T1D Canada is proud to continue having both senior leadership and management teams that more than achieve gender parity, skewing heavily female. While acknowledging there is always more to be done, Breakthrough T1D Canada works daily to advance the IWD theme of #AccelerateAction.

Christine MacGibbon has lived with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for 27 years. She raises awareness of the realities of living with this disease in meaningful and unique ways, leveraging her modelling, storytelling, and competitive dance background. She is a bold ambassador for Breakthrough T1D, courageously sharing her story through our Mental Health program and Let’s Talk T1D Education Series on T1D and disordered eating.

The $100M Campaign to Accelerate is Breakthrough T1D’s bold fundraising plan to streamline and speed up the most promising T1D research in Canada and worldwide. Led by passionate philanthropists and dedicated volunteers, this major gift campaign has raised over $86M, funding twice the T1D research than six years ago. Together, we are driving an unstoppable movement to change lives today and accelerate cures tomorrow for people living with T1D like Christine.

Trigger warning: This story references a disordered eating behaviour known as diabulimia (insulin omission to lose weight)

Christine was diagnosed at age nine and remembers having lost a lot of weight and needing to urinate more frequently. She says it got to the point where her teachers were giving her detention because they thought she was trying to get out of class; they didn’t know anyone who had diabetes or its signs and symptoms.

Christine was admitted to the hospital after receiving a T1D diagnosis, which didn’t seem so bad at first; she had a dedicated diabetes care team to help manage her T1D and who helped teach her and her family about the disease. She also met children her age diagnosed around the same time, including one of her best friends to this day. Being surrounded by others who understood what she was going through helped her navigate the first couple of weeks of her diagnosis. Yet once she returned home, she didn’t have the comprehensive diabetes care that she needed to thrive.

Christine had a hard time accepting her new reality of living with a chronic illness. “I didn’t really understand what was happening inside my body and why I needed insulin,” Christine says, “I felt that I was my disease, and it was the reason why I wasn’t able to do so many things.”

Approaching her teenage years, Christine encountered stigma from others regarding her weight, insulin needs, and diabetes technology. This led her to believe that her diabetes was her fault, making her feel undeserving of health or happiness, so she tried to distance herself from her disease entirely. She stopped using her insulin pump, avoided checking her blood glucose levels, and restricted her insulin intake. As a result, she lost weight and received praise for it despite her suffering.

“I struggled with diabulimia for many years,” Christine says, “and at the time, there wasn’t a lot of research surrounding it, so I wasn’t able to get the treatments and support that I needed.”

At age 17, Christine’s HbA1c (the average of her blood glucose levels over 2-3 months) was over 14%. This is much higher than the 7.5% or less recommended for teens with T1D. She was also left without an endocrinologist during the challenging transition period between pediatric and adult care. Throughout her late teens and twenties, Christine was frequently in and out of the hospital and ICU due to diabetes complications that arose from her struggle with diabulimia.

It wasn’t until Christine learned about pathophysiology (the study of how a disease affects a patient) at university that she understood what was happening in her body and realized the damage she was doing to herself by withholding insulin. Talking with others living with T1D and learning about their similar challenges also helped Christine feel less alone in her T1D journey.

Thanks to donor-funded advancements in technology, she is now well enough to pursue a degree in Disability Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. Christine aims to combat diabetes stigma and spark conversations about how society views and treats diabetes. She advocates for equitable access to T1D support and coverage, ensuring others don’t have to face the same adversities she experienced. She also champions body positivity and mental health in all her work.

Christine is hopeful for the future of T1D research, seeing the advancements in technology, breakthroughs, and new learning in diabetes, which are making lives better now. “When I think of what’s on the horizon and just how much the tech has advanced and how it’s helped me so far, I could see myself living through everything and being OK,”Christine says.

Join our growing community of T1D philanthropists

Donors to the The $100M Campaign to Accelerate make a profound and immediate impact, helping people like Christine, who bravely face the burdens of this relentless disease every day.

To learn more about how you can meaningfully invest through this exciting campaign, please contact:

Kim Lacombe 
Vice President, Philanthropy
klacombe@breakthroughT1D.ca
438-814-1668

Do you prefer the sweetness of a Hershey’s kiss, or maybe you like the spice of a cinnamon heart? For most of us, we can grab a handful of Valentine’s Day candy without thinking about it. But for people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) every snack, every meal, every piece of food eaten must first be calculated for carbs and sugar against the insulin they need to take – just to stay alive.

For newly diagnosed families, learning the calculations of carbs against insulin needs can be challenging at first, but with practice and consistency this should become easier over time. And even for people who have been living with T1D for decades, the sugar or carb counts of certain foods can vary, either by brand or a change to the product.

Always make sure to check the label carefully, and consider downloading an app, like Roche’s mySugr app, Diabetes M, Quin, which can be connected to a flash glucose sensor (Quin is free but only available on IOS) or apps from your device manufacturers. Visit the website of the manufacturer of your device to find out more.

Carbs and Cals lets you take a photo of your meal, and the app searches its library of over 19,000 foods to give you the nutritional information you need.

MyFitnessPal app includes a database of over 14 million foods so you can find out nutritional information about what you’re eating, including the amount of carbs. It has a handy barcode scanner for ready-made products, and you can also add your own foods.

There is a free version and a paid version which has more features. The app is compatible with iOS and Android.

We always want the holidays to be fun for you, or a loved one with T1D, knowing that treats can still safely be enjoyed. It just requires a little extra work and knowing the carb levels of  favourite candies.

Remember also to factor in the portion of candy or chocolate you or your child eats to get a more accurate carb count.

• Great Value Cinnamon Hearts (25 pieces) contains 15g total carbs, 15g net carbs, 0g fat, 0g protein, and 60 calories.
• Hershey Kiss (1 piece) contains 3g total carbs, 2.8g net carbs, 1.5g fat, 0.4g protein, and 27 calories.
• Hershey’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (1 package – each 1.5 OZ – 2 cups – 2 1/8″ diameter per cup) contains 23g total carbs, 21.7g net carbs, 12.8g fat, 4.3g protein, and 216 calories.
• Jellybeans (10 piece) contains 28g total carbs, 28g net carbs, 0g fat, 0g protein, and 113 calories
• Compliments Jujubes (8 candies) contains 33g total carbs, 33g net carbs, 0g fat, 0g protein, and 130 calories.

(values found at https://www.carbmanager.com/)

For a more detailed list of Valentine’s candies and their carb counts, thank you to our friends at Waltzing the Dragon for this Valentine Treat Carb Guide (https://waltzingthedragon.ca/diabetes/nutrition-excercise/valentines-day-candy-chocolate-carb-counting-tips/)

Item (weight in grams)	Grams of Carbs
CHOCOLATE
Hershey’s Kiss, Milk Chocolate (4.6g)	2.6g
Hershey’s Hug (4.4g)	2.7g
Hershey’s Kiss Chocolate Truffle (4.6g)	2.6g
Hershey’s Kiss Lava Cake (4.7g)	2.9g
M&M Valentine Cupid’s Mix (8 candies = 9g)	5g
Kinder Love Mini Chocolate Heart (4.3g)	2.3g
Kinder Surprise Egg (20g)	10g
Reese’s Peanut Butter Heart (10g)	5.8g
KitKat Mini Valentine Bar (12g)	7.7g
Smarties Mini Valentine Box – contains 10 pces (10g)	7.8g
Assorted Chocolates, Merci (12.7g)	6.7g
Milk Chocolate Strawberry Truffle, Jelly Belly (8.6g)	4.6g
Milk Chocolate Truffle, Aero (9g)	4.8g
Milk Chocolate Rose (18g)	10g
Milk Chocolate Heart, Laura Secord (7.6g)	3.8g
Dark Chocolate Heart, Laura Secord (7.6g)	2.8g
Chocolate Heart, Lindt Lindor (14g)	7g
Chocolate, Ferraro Rocher (12.7g)	5g
Dark Chocolate Ganache Heart, Godiva Masterpieces (7.8g)	3.2g
Caramel-filled Chocolate Heart, Freddo (10g)	6g
Milk Chocolate Caramel Heart, Carnaby Sweet (7g)	4.3g
Chocolate-covered Cherry, Cella’s (14g)	10g
Cream-filled Chocolate, Elmer (11.3g): – Caramel – Strawberry Crème – Orange Crème – Cocoa truffle – Chocolate Caramel	7.3g
Cream-filled Chocolate Heart, Palmer: – Cookies and Cream (9.5g) – Peanut Butter (9.5g) – Fudge (9.5g) – Caramel (9.5g) – Double Crisp (8.2g)	6g 5.3g 6.3g 6g 5.4g
CANDY
Candy Hearts, Brach’s Heart 2 Heart Tiny Conversation Hearts, (12 hearts, 15g)	15g
Candy Hearts, Rockets (1 roll = 11 candies, 18g)	16g
Candy Hearts, Cherubin Chit Chats (19 candies, 20g)	18.5g
Cinnamon Hearts, McCormicks (10 candies, 5g)	4g
Candy powder, Fun Dip Valentine Pouch (12g)	11g
Jelly Bean Heart, Compliments (2.7g)	2.5g
Gummy Heart, Compliments (4.6g)	3.7g
Gummy Heart, Cherubin (8g)	5.8g
Gummy Candy, Disney #MicMin (50g pkg)	36g
Popping Candy, Cherubin (1g pouch)	1g
Lollipop, Carnaby Sweet, Cherry (6g)	6g
BAKING
Mini Cupcake with Icing (25g)	14g

This May, Matt Varey, a key volunteer with Breakthrough T1D since 2001, will embark on an ambitious two-month long, 7500 km, cycling journey across Canada. As Matt rides Coast-to-Coast for Cures in support of Breakthrough T1D, his goal is that his passion and drive will inspire Canadians to give generously to make each day better for those living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) while driving towards cures.

Matt has held a series of key volunteer roles within Breakthrough T1D. Matt currently serves on both the Breakthrough T1D International Board of Directors as Vice Chair and Breakthrough T1D Canada Board of Directors. 

Matt was most recently a senior executive at RBC prior to his retirement in June 2024. Matt joined RBC in 1987 and held a wide range of senior management and executive positions within RBC, including Head of RBC Investments Canadian Financial Planning business. Prior to this responsibility, he was Vice President and General Manager of RBC Suisse, RBC’s Global Private Banking operations in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Matt graduated from McMaster University and currently enjoys retirement in Oakville, Ontario, with his wife, Dr. Andrea Jack, or AJ, and their four adult children. 

Matt sat down with Breakthrough T1D to share more about his motivations behind taking on such an ambitious fundraiser, and why supporting the T1D community is so important to him.

Breakthrough T1D: Tell us a little bit more about yourself

Matt Varey: I’m 61-years-old, born and raised in Oakville, ON. I had simple, caring parents, both are passed now, an older sister who lives in Calgary, and my brother lives in France. I went to McMaster for kinesiology. I absolutely loved sports, I still do. I was a competitive paddler, played football, rugby, and I biked. My life revolved around sports. But I had another passion, finance and investments. And upon graduation, I came to a fork in the road, did I pursue kinesiology or my other passion. I was always told when you come to a fork in the road, you have to choose one path and follow it through. I got an opportunity to start working at Dominion Securities, so I took the finance fork. I was 23 years old, and I ended up spending 37 years with RBC. I was in leadership for almost my entire career, and it took me so many places – to Saskatoon, Kitchener Waterloo, Toronto, Singapore, Switzerland.

It was also around this time that I met the love of my life, my wife AJ, on a blind date in Muskoka, and we got married about a year and half later. At that point we were living in Toronto, and that started our journey with our family. We have four beautiful adult children. Our oldest works at RBC, our second oldest is a chemical engineer, working to clean water around the world, our third works at Dominion Securities at RBC in the brokerage area, and the youngest works in commercial real estate. AJ is a partner at a dental practice and teaches part-time. And we are both extremely proud grandparents of two grandchildren.

And as I mentioned, my parents are gone, but they were the ones who taught me to always give back. They were very simple and kind people, who were always giving back. I live every day trying to honour what they taught me.

I love the outdoors, lakes, forests, prairies, mountains, anywhere I can just be outside, I love it and feel alive. I love to continue with my middle-aged body in sports, love to be on the bike, love that I’m retired and can follow the markets, I love to read. I am working towards achieving my pilot’s license. So, when I am not on my bike, I like to be in the air.  But most of all, I love to be involved with purposeful journeys, and surround myself with kind, caring people dedicated to a purpose.

Breakthrough T1D: You’ve been involved with Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) as a volunteer and board member for over 20 years, how did you first get connected with the organization?

Matt Varey: My relationship with Breakthrough T1D started in 2001,  my wife AJ and my four small children were transferred at RBC back from Geneva to Toronto. At that time, we were asked to build a new Canadian business within the bank, and it entailed me and other leaders going across Canada and speaking to employees very passionately and credibly about what they were going to help build. We went coast to coast to Victoria, Newfoundland, Yellowknife. We visited branches, held town halls, we’d do four a day and went onto the next city, to talk about the business.

Banking is a human business based on trust. I had to get out of my introverted shell talking to employees, and so I would ask them – who are you as a person? I want to get to know you as a human beyond just work. I had no idea what Breakthrough T1D (then JDRF) was at the time. And you’d hear from people about their kids, or their sports, and 1 or 2 people, I would ask them about their family, and they would get teary, or speak with a crack in their voice. So, naturally I would probe a bit and ask more, and they would tell me about their family member and their journey with T1D.

So, when I got back from this Canada-wide work trip, I learned about the Breakthrough T1D ‘battle of the banks’ Ride – and thought to myself wow, I have to do this. That spring, I trudged down to City Hall, and was part of the RBC Ride team, I saw so many RBCers enthusiastically giving back, it was so inspiring. I saw all these people raising money for T1D research, and I made this connection to the people who I met along that work trip affected by T1D, and I got the bug. My mother always said, ‘what’s given is yours forever’ and I knew I had a new purposeful journey with Breakthrough T1D.

It all flowed from there. I became the chair of RBC Ride Cabinet, and then the National Cabinet Chair. I saw the power of progress, I saw the dedication, and the passion of people. So I said, I can’t stop at the Ride. And then I met a fabulous mentor, one of the most people important people in my life, Peter Oliver.

Peter was one of founding fundraisers of what was then JDRF, because of his daughter Vanessa, who lives with T1D. He was such a giving person, and he taught me things I will never forget about giving back. He told me: Always think big, never take no for an answer. Do things that will stand out, never underestimate, two is one, one is none, it’s not what’s in front of you, it’s who is on either side of you.

Peter was the definition of a mentor, about what Breakthrough T1D stood for, and the people who worked there. And he knew that he had this young guy named Matt, who would follow anything he asked. I’ve been a Board Member, Vice Chair, Chair of Breakthrough T1D Canada, and I’ve never felt a culture of giving, togetherness and dedication like I did from the people at this organization. This led me to being a board member of Breakthrough T1D International (headquartered in the United States), and now I am currently the Vice-Chair of Breakthrough T1D International.

And this journey can be credited in so many ways to Peter, who was and is, and always will be my north star.

Breakthrough T1D: How did you devise the idea for Coast to Coast for Cures?

Matt Varey: As I retired, in summer 2024 I thought about something my mum always taught me, which was to ‘never stop moving and never let the old man in’. So with mentors like my mum telling me to ‘keep moving’, and Peter Oliver saying, ‘make sure it’s big, make sure it stands out, and make sure it challenges you’, I came up with the idea for the event.

Riding across Canada for 57 days and 7500 kms coast to coast for a cause, it’s doing something different, and honestly – it’s something that scares me, which is good. I also love Canada so much, so that’s part of my journey too. And I knew RBC would always have my back, as a mission, values-based organization, they told me in my retirement if I ever did anything for Breakthrough T1D, they would be involved and support me 100%.

I want to challenge myself, hold true to my mum and Peter. And my wife said she would take two months off work, bring the dog and drive behind me. My wife is my everything and I could never do this without her.

And one evening I made a public proclamation that I was going to do this, and then there was no turning back.

Breakthrough T1D: What are you most excited about for the ride, both personally and for raising awareness of Breakthrough T1D and type 1 diabetes?

Matt Varey: The world is changed by your actions, not by your words. Human beings, deep inside, want to see people accomplish something that is hard, but shows dedication. I think that it attracts human beings to be generous. The sheer wonderment of ‘wow, he did that’. If we’re going to be asking people to help us raise half a million dollars, they want to see your skin in the game.

I’m excited about seeing the generosity of people. I’m an optimist, I always believe tomorrow is going to be better than today. So, I’m excited about people being generous. I’m excited to see Canada for two months with my wife and seeing my former RBC colleagues who I miss dearly.

Breakthrough T1D: Do you have a message for the Breakthrough T1D community?

Matt Varey: We will never ever stop moving forward for cures. Ever. And I am just one of thousands and thousands of incredibly dedicated volunteers who also wake up every day and say the same thing, with even more credibility than myself.

As Mary Tyler Moore, who lived with T1D herself would say, “you can’t be brave, if you’ve only had easy things happen to you.”

And people who live with T1D are brave every day. So please know that my commitment to you is to be brave also. And we will never ever stop until we get to a world free from type 1 diabetes.

To follow Matt’s progress on his journey or to support him, please visit: https://breakthrought1d.akaraisin.com/ui/CoastToCoastForCures

On Jan 7, 2025 (Sweden), Sana Biotechnology released significant clinical data: the first person with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who received deceased donor islets engineered to evade the immune system is producing insulin without immunosuppression.

The details

This is a big step for cell-based therapies for potentially curing T1D. Sana’s first-in-human study consists of allogeneic islets, meaning they are derived from an external source, which in this case is the pancreases of deceased donors. These islets were engineered to avoid recognition by the immune system (hypoimmune) and were implanted intramuscularly into a person with T1D. After four weeks, circulating C-peptide increased, meaning that the beta cells are alive, healthy, and producing insulin—all without the need for immunosuppression and no safety issue. This is the first evidence of engineered islets successfully avoiding immune destruction.

What this means for the T1D community

While this is an incredibly promising step forward for the T1D community, to have allogenic cells survive without the use of immunosuppressants, this trial relied on deceased donor cells, of which there will never be enough to provide to everyone living with T1D.  The trial was done in a single participant and is reporting only 4-weeks of data – this is a proof-of-concept study that is promising but very preliminary.

What’s next: lots to look forward to

Breakthrough T1D believes that the best chance for T1D cures lies in stem cell-based therapies since deceased donor islets are in short supply, while stem cell-derived islets can be produced at scale. Engineering cells to evade immune attack is a new path forward to protect the insulin-producing beta cells and avoid the use of immunosuppressants. Most importantly, this technology is being studied to apply to stem cell-based therapies, which is a scalable solution for many more people with T1D. This hypoimmune technology moves us closer to the possibility of having enough immune-evading cells for everyone with T1D.

Another trial is in progress testing a similar approach (CRISPR) in Canada – https://clinicaltrials.breakthrought1d.ca/clinical-trial/NCT05565248

While this approach will take significant time, effort, and money, every day we take another step toward a possible life-changing T1D cure. 

Breakthrough T1D’s Role

The primary objective of Breakthrough T1D’s beta cell replacement efforts is to place insulin-producing cells into people with T1D without the use of immunosuppressants. Breakthrough T1D strongly supports the development of stem cell-based therapies that do not require broad immunosuppression and Breakthrough T1D International based out of the US recently launched an initiative to accelerate this faster than ever (Project ACT – Accelerate Cell Therapies). To contribute to the advancement of these game-changing therapies, the T1D Fund: A Breakthrough T1D Venture invested in Sana recognizing that their hypoimmune engineering technology held significant promise for T1D cell therapies. We look forward to seeing how the trial progresses.

2024 was certainly a year of transformation. We recognized 50 years of grassroots fundraising and advocacy in Canada and in November we became Breakthrough T1D™ Canada. And while we now have a new name and look, our mission remains the same. We are as steadfast as ever about reaching our ultimate goal, a world free from type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Watch: We are Breakthrough T1D

And it is always because of our incredible community of donors, volunteers, and supporters that we never wavered in our mission, seeing progress and breakthroughs across all fields of T1D research. And with successful events and advocacy initiatives across the country, we continued to strengthen our relationship with the amazing T1D community.   

From the generosity of our donors, Breakthrough T1D Canada witnessed another transformative year– committing substantive funding to research, developing our partnerships in academia with new fellowships and grants, continuing to support both newly diagnosed families, and our adult T1D community, reinforcing our commitment to being there for anyone living with T1D at any age and any stage of their journey.

And while we work relentlessly towards cures, we continue to try to improve the lives today of the estimated 300,000 Canadians with T1D, through research, advocacy and community engagement.

Highlights from the past year included: 

• Before transitioning to our new name, we recognized 50 years of JDRF in Canada and shared stories from people who have been living with T1D for over 50 years. Read their stories.
• Launched our Mental Health + Diabetes Community Grants.   
• Supporting a novel training award program in Canada that will build capacity for the future of T1D research in Canada through support of racialized women that have been underfunded in academic research.
• Globally, together with our affiliates in the United States, United Kingdon, Australia, Netherlands and Israel we are funding more trainees than before.
• Convening a successful Kids or A Cure event, bringing youth living with T1D from across the country to meet MPs and Senators in Ottawa to advocate for increased research funding.
• Advocating with partner agencies for a National Pharmacare Plan to address gaps in insulin and diabetes device coverage.
• Reaching thousands of Canadians affected by T1D through our Breakthrough 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 programs 
• Provided connection and support through our Breakthrough T1D Connection series, community events and peer support programs.
• Bringing our community together at our Walk, Ride, and Cocktails for a Cure events. 
• Continued progress with our $100 Million Campaign to Accelerate  thanks to donor-enabled initiatives like the Triple Match to research through our partnership with the CIHR, generous donors like those working to establish the Brendan Hunt Diabetes and Mental Health Fund, and dedicated campaign volunteers and long-time supporters like Bonnie Barber.

T1D research highlights 

In cell replacement: 

• Breakthrough T1D Canada and Stem Cell Network announced the third recipient of the J. Andrew McKee Fellowship in Type 1 Diabetes and a fourth fellowship opportunity launched. 
• Thanks to donors to the $100M Campaign to Accelerate, the Breakthrough T1D Centre of Excellence at UBC marks three years of innovation in type 1 diabetes cure research.
• Exciting updates from Vertex stem cell-based therapy clinical trials.
• The development of a new dedicated webpage to cell therapy and research updates and record attendance at our Cell Therapy Education Session.
• Awarding the inaugural Breakthrough T1D Clinician Investigator Fellowship to Dr. Ahsen Chaudhry to support his research and clinician training in islet transplantation.

In disease-modifying therapies: 

• Psoriasis drug shows promise for treating type 1 diabetes.
• Breakthrough T1D and Integrated Nanotherapeutics collaborate to advance development of an immune tolerizing therapeutic to treat T1D.

In treatments to improve lives: 

• The Breakthrough T1D-CIHR Partnership to Defeat Diabetes announce 5 new grants in Knowledge Mobilization,  to provide researchers and knowledge users the opportunity to work together to use research evidence to improve health services, programs, and policies.
• Funding programs devoted to improving mental health care and outcomes for people with T1D.
• Renewed our funding of the BETTER project, a Canadian research initiative aimed at improving the lives of people with T1D.

In screening: 

• Breakthrough T1D Canada and Sanofi Canada partner to raise awareness about autoimmune type 1 diabetes and the critical role of screening in its early detection.
• Continued work by CanScreen T1D, a new Canadian T1D screening research consortium led by Dr. Diane Wherrett.  
• Breakthrough T1D continues to help facilitate screening for relatives of those with T1D across Canada via TrialNet.

In clinical trials: 

• Launched the Breakthrough T1D Clinical Trials Finder to make finding T1D clinical trials recruiting in Canada easier and simpler – clinicaltrials.breakthroughT1D.ca.
• Continued to raise awareness of the importance of clinical trials for moving forward critical T1D research through social media and an Education Series event.

To read more about research updates and stories of people living with T1D, please visit www.breakthrought1d.ca/blog. 

As we head into 2025, we pause and reflect on how truly grateful we are for the support of our donors, volunteers and the commitment of the T1D community. Thank you! Together, as we drive toward curing type 1 diabetes, we help to make every day better for the people living with it. 

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.

Hannah was born on August 4, 1994, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She began skiing at 2 and joined the Mont-Tremblant Ski Club at 12, where she developed a passion for ski racing. Hannah’s talent quickly propelled her to the top ranks in alpine skiing, achieving multiple podiums in FIS-sanctioned events.

Hannah’s World Cup career began in 2018 with a 27th-place finish in her debut race at Blue Mountain, Canada. Despite missing the 2019-2020 season due to a leg injury, she made a strong comeback. Her breakthrough came at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where she placed 7th in ski cross, confirming her position among the world’s best ski cross skiers.

Since her Olympic performance, Hannah has become a regular on the World Cup podium. In January 2024, she secured back-to-back victories in Nakiska, Canada, marking the high point of her 2023-2024 season. She currently ranks 2nd in the FIS point list, despite an ankle injury that cut short her previous season.

In her own words, Hannah shares what life as a high-performance athlete with T1D looks like for her, and why it was important to her to become a Breakthrough T1D Canada ambassador.

Hannah Schmidt:

I grew up as a very active child. Playing every sport I could! I was diagnosed at the age of 12, very much out of nowhere. I remember going on a road trip across Canada with my parents and having to stop every 30-60 minutes to go pee. Once we got home, I had no energy to do anything, and my parents thought this was very bizarre for me as I loved doing anything active.

When I was diagnosed, I remember my mom just bawling and I turned to her and said, “I will be ok, this is not going to change how I will live my life.”

I still live by this comment and want to portray this as much as possible to people that are living with diabetes. Being diagnosed with diabetes definitely has many challenges but I have learnt how to deal with them the best way possible.

Diabetes isn’t easy, I am not going to sugar coat it. So, when I was diagnosed it was a huge learning curve to be able to adjust everything so that I was able to compete in all the sports that I was doing at the time (basketball, soccer, alpine skiing, sprint canoe/kayak and more). It took time but once you get in the mindset/rhythm of doing things with diabetes it does get a bit easier. I always had the goal to compete in the Olympic Games. I wasn’t sure what sport it was going to be in but I knew I wanted to achieve that goal. I started specializing in the sport of Alpine Skiing at the age of 16 (4 years after I was diagnosed with T1D). I loved the adrenaline of alpine skiing and would always beg my parents to go skiing every weekend.

I competed in alpine skiing until 2018, I completed my university degree at Carleton University the same year. At that time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue skiing and made the decision to try Ski Cross. I loved ski cross the moment I started. I competed at the Nor-Am cup level for my first year, achieving multiple podiums and then progressed into the World Cup the following season.

The year leading up to the Olympics in 2022, I had a breakout season with consistent results and therefore qualified to the Olympics and achieved my goal of competing in the Olympic Games. I placed 7th at the games and really enjoyed every moment of it. There were definitely moments of doubt amongst those years of competing and there still are day to day. Having diabetes has made all of this so much more rewarding in the end. 

Managing diabetes while being a high-performance athlete is not easy. I will say that right off the bat. Being able to use the technology that there is now a days makes it a lot easier. I am on the Medtronic pump and the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that corresponds with Medtronic. Having the CGM while skiing has been amazing!! I have been able to see how the stress/anxiety of racing impacts my blood sugars etc. When I am training or competing, I typically aim to have my blood sugar at 7.0 mmol/l so that I don’t feel like my blood sugar is going to drop while training/competing. This allows me to not have to worry about going too low.

That being said everyone is different and prefers it a certain way. Diabetes definitely adds extra stress when it comes to being a high-performance athlete because of all the travel and the day-to-day ups and downs. That being said I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love what I do! My day-to-day life changes every day; we have travel days, rest days, training days, race days, sick days etc. and that means that my diabetes is not going to look the same each day. I do my best to maintain a good blood sugar average by using my CGM to continuously monitor my levels. 

It is really important to me to raise awareness about T1D because diabetes is a manageable disease that you can live with. My goal is to encourage individuals that have diabetes to achieve their goals even if it is going to be harder. The feeling once you reach those goals is even better because you are living with diabetes, and you can still do what you want! I also believe the more we talk about diabetes and the more it is out in the world the closer we can get to finding a cure for it. 

Finding a cure for diabetes would be life changing. I honestly don’t remember a day when I didn’t have to think about how much insulin I should take for a certain meal, or did I bring sugar just in case I go low or do I have enough diabetes supplies to last for my two-week training camp. There is always so much going on in my brain when it comes to organization and planning when it comes to living with diabetes. Once there is a cure my day-to-day is going to look a lot easier and simplified! I know the research is very close to finding a cure and I know to would make the lives of everyone living with diabetes so much easier. 

I want to help advocate with Breakthrough T1D to show that living with diabetes doesn’t mean that you can’t do sports, or you can’t get a certain job or do a certain task, it just means it might take longer or it will look a bit different, but you can still do it. I really want to get that point across that everybody’s journey is different and mine involves diabetes. Yours can too. 

Lastly, I just want to say to everyone living with diabetes, go after your dreams. Fight for what you want to achieve in life and go for it. It’s going to be harder, and you are going to have good days and bad days but when you achieve your goals, you will enjoy it that much more.

A quote I said right when I was diagnosed was “Diabetes isn’t going to change what I want to achieve in my life, it might look a bit different and that’s ok.” This quote has been my go-to when I’m having a tough day or need a quick reminder. 

The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it the stress of finding that perfect gift for the important people in your life. Why not let Breakthrough T1D give you some ideas to help you really spoil your loved one living with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

We’ve put together a gift guide with some fun holiday suggestions and ideas that can also work for just about anyone on your list. Whether you go simple, complicated, homemade, from a store or a gift card – know that the best gift is always the one chosen with care and thought.

For the person who loves to relax

Feeling great in your skin

With the winter cold comes dry skin, and this can be a particular challenge for people T1D. It’s also better for glucose monitoring when the skin is well moisturized. There are so many different brands and scents to choose from, so this can be a stocking stuffer that is practical, but also feels luxurious.

Find some ideas here: https://www.vitalitymedical.com/blog/10-best-lotions-creams-for-diabetic-dry-skin.html

Fun, cozy socks and slippers

Tired and painful feet are uncomfortable for anyone, but especially people with T1D. Compression socks can help with fatigue and nerve pain in the feet. Non-skid, seamless, moisture-wicking socks, or a funky pair of slippers (make sure they’ve got a good sole and a closed toe and back to prevent slipping) can ease the dreaded cold floors of winter. Plus, there is nothing better than feeling toasty, warm and cozy.

And for cuter socks and slippers.

Plants to add life to a home

It’s hard to go wrong with gifts that spruce up a living space. Easy to care for plants, like cactus or snake plants can add comfort and decoration while not requiring much maintenance.

There are also a variety of plants that help to purify the air in a room.

Find some inspiration and ideas here: https://foli.ca/ or https://plantsome.ca/

There’s nothing like being cozy

Sweaters, blankets, tuques and mitts – we all need them in the winter in Canada, and they offer warmth and function.

Find some inspiration here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/market/mittens or https://www.amazon.ca/stores/Carhartt/

Gift to stimulate the mind

Puzzles, board games and video games all help pass the time over the cold winter days. Maybe your child loves beading or making jewelry. Books, journals, crossword puzzles, sudoko or trivia games – all of these are great ideas to keep your loved one occupied and tapping into their creative side while hibernating over the long winter months.

For the fashionista in your life

Quirky and stylish diabetes supply bags

When you have T1D, you need to carry supplies with you, so why not make it cute and creative! 

These fashionable accessories are often designed by people who have diabetes and understand that practicality doesn’t mean you can’t have fun too.

Glow up your pump and monitor covers

Consider these beautiful pump and glucose monitor covers by HyperPumpART. Stylish, lightweight and durable, these covers are reusable and handcrafted by their creators Shonna (who lives with T1D herself and Ricky). You can purchase them pre-made or get a gift card so the person with T1D in your life can choose their own.

See them here: https://hyperpumpart.com/ or on their Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hyperpumpart

Clothes specially designed for people with diabetes

Breakthrough T1D supporter Warrior Hill designs clothing to be worn while playing sports that accommodate pumps and glucose monitors, and a portion of proceeds supports T1D research.

Learn more: https://www.warriorhill.ca/

(*Please note that except for Warrior Hill, Breakthrough T1D receives no funding from any of the suggested links, they are just to help you get started)

Gift the gift of philanthropy

Donate

We know that not everyone does gift exchanges over the holidays. Or maybe you’ve been searching for an appropriate gift for a colleague.

Donating to a charity, including Breakthrough T1D Canada will help you to feel good while doing good. The gift of philanthropy is one that helps both today and tomorrow. With your support, Breakthrough T1D can continue helping the close to 300,000 Canadians living with T1D – and their loved ones – live better, healthier lives today while we invest in the most promising research into cures for tomorrow – and get us closer to our ultimate goal, a world free from T1D. 

And if you donate today, your gift will be doubled up to December 31, 2024, with a generous match.

Whatever gift you choose, if it’s chosen with consideration and thought – it will always be the right choice. From everyone at Breakthrough T1D, wishing you and yours a happy and peaceful holiday season, and a very happy 2025.

Thank you for supporting Breakthrough T1D and the T1D community. 

Winter is on its way, and with it the holiday season and the parties and meals that come along with it. Most of us find we indulge a little more in holiday snacks and treats – and these are often sugar and carb laden. One of the major stresses of managing type 1 diabetes (T1D), particularly for people who are newly diagnosed, can be meal planning and both how it will affect blood glucose levels and how much insulin you or your child might need.

But with a little planning and preparation, you can and should enjoy time with family and friends – including holiday dinners – with confidence.

Thank you to Beyond Type 1 for these traditional holiday meal carb counts to help guide your decisions this holiday season.

Beyond Type 1 has a full page of resources to make navigating the holidays a little easier: https://beyondtype1.org/celebrations-holidays/

Managing T1D is a challenge any time but can be made easier when you’re armed with information to help you plan accordingly.

So, raise that glass, make a toast and relax and enjoy all the holiday season has to offer!

* Please note that your portion sizes may vary, and your carbohydrate counts will need to be adjusted accordingly.

Mains

Item	Amount	Carbohydrates
Turkey	Any	0g
Ham	Any	0g
Beef	Any	0g
Chicken	Any	0g
Duck	Any	0g
Goose	Any	0g
Lasagna	1 Cup	30g
Brisket	1 oz.	0g

Sides

Item	Amount	Carbohydrates
Mashed Potatoes	1 cup	30g
Roasted Potatoes	1 cup	28g
Sweet Potato	1 Med.	28g
Potato Latke	1 Med.	10g
Candied Yams	1/2 cup	45g
Sweet Potato Casserole with Mini Marshmallows	1/3 cup	30g
Green Beans	1/2 cup	4g
Green Bean Casserole	1 1/2 cup.	9g
Corn	1/2 cup	9g
Sauerkraut	1 cup	6g
Glazed Carrots	1/2 cup	25g
Brussel Sprouts	1/2 cup	4g
Cheese	1 oz.	0-1g
Stuffing	1/2 cup	20g
Cranberry Sauce	1/4 cup	25g
Gravy	1/2 cup	5g
Dinner Roll	1	20g
Biscuit	1	25g
Cornbread	1 piece	28g
Challah	2 oz.	30g
Matzo Ball	1	10g
Matzo Ball Soup	1 cup	15g
Noodle Kugel	2″ Square	23g
Apple Sauce – Sweetened	4 oz.	23g
Apple Sauce – Unsweetened	4 oz.	12g
Sour Cream	2 tbsp.	.5g
Olive Oil	1 tbsp.	0g

Desserts

Item	Amount	Carbohydrates
Sweet Potato Pie	1/8th Slice	35g
Minced Meat Pie	1/8th Slice	55g
Pumpkin Pie	1/8th Slice	35g
Apple Pie	1/8th Slice	45g
Pecan Pie	1/8th Slice	60g
Meringue Pie	1/8th Slice	50g
Fruitcake	1/8th Slice	26g
Christmas (Plum) Pudding	2 oz.	30g
Sticky Toffee Pudding	2 oz.	25g
Bread Pudding	2 oz.	20g
Trifle	1 2 oz.	15g
Ginger Snap Cookies	4 (1 oz.)	23g
Shortbread Cookies	4 (1 oz.)	21g
Chocolate Chip Cookies	2	20g
Peanut Butter Cookies	2	20g
Sugar Cookies	2	22g
Meringue Cookies	6	15g
Rugelach	1 oz./pc.	17g
Sufganiyot (Jelly Donut)	1	25g
Cheese Blintz	1	12g
Chocolate Gelt	1 oz.	17g
Cheesecake	1 pc. (1/6)	20g
Candy Cane	1	15g
Vanilla Ice Cream	1/2 cup	16g
Chocolate Ice Cream	1/2 cup	18g
Brand Butter	2 tbsp.	15g
Whipped Cream (Unsweetened)	2 tbsp.	2g

Drinks

Item	Amount	Carbohydrates
Eggnog	1/2 cup	30g
Hot Cocoa with Water	1 cup	15-20g
Hot Cocoa with Milk	1 cup	30g
Spiced Apple Cider (Non-Alcoholic)	1 cup	30g
Hard Apple Cider	12 oz.	15-30g
Wine (White or Red)	5 oz.	4g
Champagne	5 oz.	3g
Regular Beer	5 oz.	12g
Light Beer	12 oz.	6g
Spirits	1 oz.	0g

Canada is home to world-class researchers who are making discoveries with the potential to improve the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, these research findings can only make a difference if we share them with the knowledge users, ie. the right people, including health care providers, people living with T1D and their communities, people at risk of T1D, and policymakers. 

The Knowledge Mobilization in Diabetes Prevention and Treatment operating grants, led by the CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, in partnership with Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), provide researchers and knowledge users the opportunity to work together to use research evidence to improve health services, programs, and policies. 

The goal of this funding opportunity is to enhance knowledge mobilization in the field of diabetes, focusing on evidence integration into health services, programs, and policies, and to: 

• Increase and enhance bi-directional mobilization of knowledge and integration of evidence into policies and practices related to diabetes prevention, remission, screening, diagnosis, management, treatment, and delivery of care for all types of diabetes as well as screening and prevention of diabetes complications. 

• Support researchers and knowledge users in the development and implementation of a knowledge mobilization plan to address a health system priority and/or identified evidence needs or gaps. 

• Facilitate uptake of evidence to improve the lives of people at risk of or living with diabetes in Canada. 

Breakthrough T1D has supported 5 of the 12 grants awarded in this competition Each grant is worth up to $125,000 each for a 1-year duration.  

Anne-Sophie Brazeau, McGill University – Integrating an online training platform into type 1 diabetes clinical care to empower self-management (Support implementation) 

Dr. Brazeau and her team will evaluate the implementation strategies for integrating SUPPORT, an online training platform, as part of clinic care and put in place activities to help make health care practitioners aware of the innovation. The aim will be to increase the use and uptake of the platform as well as shorten the time needed to translate research results into practice, ultimately improving the lives of people with T1D. 

Valeria E Rac, University Health Network – Connecting Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programs in Ontario. Mobilizing Knowledge across the Health System 

Dr. Rac and her team will develop a pathway towards the creation of a provincial diabetic retinopathy screening program that includes a provincial registry. The team will also assess the screening needs of different patient populations living with diabetes across the province, and set up knowledge gathering workshops to improve access to diabetic retinopathy screening programs, thereby improving eye health for those individuals living with diabetes. 

Peter A Senior, University of Alberta – Freedom and Flexibility – Communicating the Experiences of Beta Cell Replacement to Patients and Providers 

Dr. Senior and his team will examine and explore the experiences of individuals with T1D who have undergone islet transplantation, their family members, and health care practitioners engaged in islet transplantation to better understand experiences of the risks and benefits of islet transplantation as well as the limitations of conventional treatments for T1D. The team will then work closely with the T1D community to co-create informational and educational materials that can convey a richer, more nuanced picture of the experience of living with T1D and the outcomes of islet transplantation. 

Liris P Smith, Yukon University – Yukon Experiences in Management of Type One Diabetes: Patient and Provider Perspectives 

Dr. Smith and her team will explore and describe the experiences of people and caregivers of people with T1D in Yukon, recognizing that the needs of the community are unique and that access to care is often limited in rural settings. The grant will allow the team to also describe the experiences of Yukon primary care providers for persons living with T1D, with the ultimate goal to improve access to care and management supports. 

Ian S Zenlea, Trillium Health Partners – Supporting High School Students with Type 1 Diabetes: Mobilizing Experiential Knowledge to Combat Diabetes-Related Stigma 

There is an urgent need to centre the voices of adolescents with T1D to learn about how to address diabetes-related stigma in high schools to reduce harm and foster safe and inclusive learning spaces. Dr. Zenlea and his colleagues will co-design peer-led multimedia awareness products that can address diabetes-related stigma in high school settings. 

These grants are part of the overall Breakthrough T1D – CIHR Parternship to Defeat Diabetes. This unique partnership ensures that T1D remains a priority in Canadian health research and is based on a shared vision of improved care, treatment, outcomes and cures for those living with T1D. 

Since its inception in 2017, this partnership has funded several innovative clinical trials and translational research projects with a view of accelerating the development of novel treatment approaches for people with T1D, in addition to cures for the disease. Multiple new cutting-edge projects will be funded in the coming year, promising to further accelerate Breakthrough T1D’s mission. Learn more about the funded research projects from this partnership. 

This is an example of an instrumental partnership that is able to leverage investments from multiple funding sources and increase the speed at which novel research is conducted in alignment with our mission of a world free from type 1 diabetes. 

On October 28, 2024, the Breakthrough T1D Centre of Excellence at the University of British Columbia (UBC) held its third annual meeting on UBC campus in Vancouver to discuss progress to date as well as the team’s ambitious plans for Years 4 and 5 of the research program.

During Year 3, the team made several breakthroughs, achieved excellent progress against research milestones, and established goals and deliverables for the next two years of funding. Updates from across the Centre’s three research themes in year 3 include:

Theme 1: Building better beta cells for islet replacement therapy, led by Dr. Francis Lynn

To help study how stem cell-derived islets develop and function in experimental settings, the team has created and characterized multiple human pluripotent stem cell lines that glow green when they develop into insulin-producing beta cells and red when they develop into glucagon-producing alpha cells. Experiments now underway will shed light on how these two key islet cell types interact, and how each cell type influences the function of the other. Work in this theme in Year 3 was also focused on finding factors that could protect transplanted stem cell-derived islets from stress and death. Using imaging techniques, and comparing islets from organ donors with stem cell-derived islets, the team discovered 6 factors that significantly reduce beta cell death. In the coming year, work in Theme 1 will follow up on the protective factors as well as pursue a new approach to develop “designer” beta cells using gene editing techniques. Together, this work is advancing the development of high-quality islet replacement products that will survive and function long-term once transplanted.

Theme 2: Protecting insulin-producing beta cells from immune attack, led by Dr. Megan Levings

A key focus in Theme 2 is developing regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy as a better way to protect islet transplants, compared with conventional immunosuppression. In Year 3, the team built on results from Years 1 and 2 to develop a new method to grow Tregs in the lab that will improve how long they survive and function after they are infused into patients with T1D, and are protecting the invention for future commercial interests. In year 4, the team will build on these findings to develop islet-targeted Tregs and test them in preclinical models of T1D. The team also advanced its development of a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based approach for T1D, in collaboration with UBC spin-off company Integrated Nanotherapetics (recent recipient of a new Breakthrough T1D industry grant). In Year 3, the team extended findings that their LNP-based therapy could prevent T1D a mouse model of the disease and, remarkably, also showed that the treatment could also reverse established diabetes. During year 4, the team will optimize delivery of this new therapy and conduct additional preclinical testing.

Theme 3: Targeting and monitoring beta cell stress, led by Dr. Jim Johnson

During year 3, the team identified over 150 different proteins that can protect beta cells from T1D-inducing cellular stress caused by things such as increased demand for insulin, inflammation, infection or chemicals. The team also uncovered new information about EIF2A, a previously identified “hub” for the cellular stress response, moving the team closer to developing new approaches that can protect beta cells from harm. In year 4, the team will continue to study what happens when beta cells are under stress to help zero in on new therapeutic targets. Theme 3 also advanced work on biomarkers of beta cell function that, pending further testing and validation in Year 4, may be useful as a new tool to measure the progression of T1D and response to novel therapies being developed in other themes.

“The Centre team has made outstanding progress in its first three years,” said Francis Lynn, Associate Professor, UBC Department of Surgery & Biomedical Engineering. “The momentum at the annual meeting was tangible as we discussed wins, challenges, and future plans for collaboratively accelerating our research towards cures.”

New Centre-associated awards announced

During the annual meeting, the Centre also took the opportunity to celebrate and welcome the third J. Andrew McKee Postdoctoral Fellow, funded at the Centre by Breakthrough T1D and Canada’s Stem Cell Network, Dr. Alyssa Weinruch, who has joined the lab of Dr. Jim Johnson to contribute to Theme 3 projects. Learn more about Dr. Weinruch on our blog.

To drive further innovation and bring new high-risk, high-reward pilot projects into the research program, the Centre has also run a seed grant competition for three consecutive years. At this annual meeting, we heard updates from Year 2 seed grant holders, and an announcement of projects funded through the third and final competition – which in addition to seed grants, awarded sapling grants to support earlier seed grant projects with promise.

Dr. Jan Dutz and collaborators are using their 2023 seed grant to test a modified version of methotrextate – a drug that has long been used for treatment of other immune diseases – to see if it can prevent progression of T1D in preclinical models. Thus far, the group has optimized the novel formulation of methotrexate and are awaiting the outcome of preclinical experiments currently in progress. The other 2023 seed grant awardee, Dr. Marc Horwitz, worked with this team to investigate how the complex relationship between viruses and the gut microbiome can influence susceptibility to T1D, and discovered a key role for short-chain fatty acids – produced in the gut upon digestion of high-fiber foods – in protecting from T1D.

2024 seed and sapling grant funding recipients and their associated projects are:

• Dr. Nicole Krentz, together with Theme 3 lead Dr. Jim Johnson, will study whether a protein called RREB can protect beta cells from autoimmunity.
• Dr. Ramon Klein Geltink, together with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lauar de Brito Monteiro, will use a cutting-edge method called SCENITH to assess beta cells and immune cells to gain new clues as to how progression of T1D could be slowed or stopped.
• Dr. Laura Evgin, together with Theme 2 lead Megan Levings, plans to engineer CAR Treg cells designed to wipe out the harmful immune cells that kill beta cells in T1D, and test their efficacy in a preclinical model of the disease.
• Dr. Hongshen Ma (recipient of a 2022 seed grant from the Centre) will work with Theme 1 lead Francis Lynn and use new sapling grant funding to develop nanotechnology-based approaches that will enable measurement of hormone production by individual islets, alongside other characteristics, providing new tools that can help to examine and improve islet replacement products for T1D.
• Dr. Dan Luciani (recipient of a 2022 seed grant from the Centre) was awarded a sapling grant to build on initial findings about a protein called TFEB that he hypothesizes can be manipulated to increase the function and resilience of stem cell-derived beta cells for therapy.

Lived Experience Advisory Group

The Centre’s T1D Lived Experience Advisory Group established in 2023 had a key role during this year’s annual meeting. The Advisory Group’s role is to integrate the voices of people with lived experience of T1D into the Centre’s work to ensure their interests and concerns are heard and translated into research aims and knowledge mobilization activities. This year, the Advisory Group led an interactive workshop entitled “Bridging the gap”, during which members of the research team had a chance to connect with people with lived experience of T1D. Discussion focused on personal perspectives on how to define a cure for T1D, and what this would mean for those living with the disease, resulting in insightful and impactful learnings for all attendees.

“Connecting with Centre researchers and sharing the real experiences of living with T1D was powerful,” said Ben Mammon, a member of the Centre’s T1D Lived Experience Advisory Group.  “I’m grateful for the ongoing progress and dedication their teams bring to the T1D community. Knowing that our shared stories can help drive innovations to improve lives is inspiring and motivating.”

The future

The overall goal of the Centre is to drive new T1D cure therapies towards clinical trials. As the Centre begins year 4, the team is laser-focused on accelerating key projects towards clinical translation, identifying commercial receptors for relevant technologies, and publishing their findings. They will also continue to support multidisciplinary activities for the Centre’s many trainees, including skills-focused workshops and a mentorship program, and engage the Lived Experience Advisory Group increasingly as projects move towards the clinic. In the long term, the Centre team looks forward to leveraging UBC’s Advanced Therapeutics Manufacturing Facility , a new facility that will be co-directed by Dr. Megan Levings and that is currently in planning on UBC campus. This facility is expected to propel Vancouver to the forefront of cell therapy innovation and clinical research.

“I have attended all three annual meetings for the Centre, and this year’s event really delivered something special,” said Heather Miller, parent of a person with T1D and long-time Breakthrough T1D supporter. “The progress shared seemed like it was on a different level – the advances feel closer than ever to reality. This is so meaningful to us having lived with T1D in our family for so long.”

Read more about the Centre here or at UBC’s dedicated webpage at https://breakthrought1d.med.ubc.ca/

For information about how to support the Breakthrough T1D Centre of Excellence at UBC, please visit: https://breakthrought1d.ca/get-involved/accelerate/