The Breakthrough T1D Canucks For Kids Fund Centre of Excellence at the University of British Columbia launches new podcast for the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community
The Breakthrough T1D Canucks For Kids Fund Centre of Excellence at the University of British Columbia (Centre of Excellence) unites the expertise of global research leaders and partnerships in industry, health care, government, and academia towards a singular goal: curing T1D. The Centre creates an environment for sustained multidisciplinary collaboration between three key sites – UBC’s Life Sciences Institute, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHRI), and Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) – allowing for rapid progress and efficient translation of discoveries in the lab to clinical solutions for people living with T1D.
Part of their work also focuses on knowledge translation and supporting lived experience, including The Breakthrough T1D Canucks For Kids Fund Centre of Excellence at UBC T1D Lived Advisory Group which has a key role at Centre outreach events and enabling dialogue between researchers and people living with T1D.
To augment this and launched in early 2026, the Centre of Excellence teamed up with BC Diabetes Research Network’s (BCDRN) popular podcast From Beta Cells to Bicycles for a special series dedicated to the Centre of Excellence. From Beta Cells to Bicycles is a series focusing on research, community engagement, and collaboration.
Streamed on Simplecast, each episode features a brief introduction by Krista Lamb, science communicator. Krista specializes in turning complex medical science into compelling stories that will help listeners and readers understand why this science truly matters in their lives.
“We are thrilled to share with the public, and especially those with lived experience with T1D, some of the exciting research activities and advances going on in the Breakthrough T1D Canucks for Kids Fund Centre of Excellence at UBC. The Centre has become a hub of excellence in T1D research, training, and knowledge sharing. We learn much through our interaction with persons with lived experience and the insight that they share, and hope this podcast captures for you the promise and challenges of T1D research going on in the Centre, as we work hard towards the development of new cell, gene, and molecular therapies for persons living with and at risk for T1D,” says Dr. Bruce Vechere, one of the Centre of Excellence’s co-research leads.
Content and Episode Themes
Five episodes have been released, each centered on key themes:
- Episode 1: Co-Leadership in Research—discussing shared leadership models with Drs. Megan Levings and Bruce Verchere, focusing on partnership, team synergy, and the Centre of Excellence’s collaborative approach to developing insulin protection strategies.
- Episode 2: Voices of Experience—exploring meaningful engagement and co-design with diverse voices in health research, featuring guests Lindsay Pallo, Ben, Ramya, Beth.
- Episode 3: From Lab to Life—highlighting translational work by Drs. Francis Lynn and James Johnson on cellular therapies for T1D, emphasizing outreach, fundraising, and public benefit.
- Episode 4: Navigating Translation—addressing balancing innovation and ethics in research translation, with insights from Drs. Megan Levings and Timothy Kieffer.
- Episode 5: Research Reflections—featuring Breakthrough T1D Canada’s Chief Scientific Officer and President and CEO, Dr. Sarah Linklater and Jessica Diniz reflecting on lessons learned from participatory and team-based research, and future directions for the Centre of Excellence, and stem cell cure-based research in Canada, and globally.
In their episode of From Beta Cells to Bicycles, Sarah and Jessica explain why Breakthrough T1D Canada invests in team‑based, multidisciplinary research rather than in individual labs, as progress in T1D research requires collaboration across beta cell biology, immunology, bioengineering, and clinical translation research. The Centre of Excellence model provides sustained, flexible funding that helps to mitigate the ‘stop‑start’ nature of traditional individual grants and helps research teams move discoveries more quickly from the lab toward real‑world impact.
The discussion also explores the lessons learned since the Centre of Excellence’s launch, including the importance of strong partnerships, meaningful engagement with people with T1D lived experience, and training the next generation of researchers.
They also discussed promising advances in disease‑modifying therapies, like Tzield, while cautioning against unrealistic timelines and stressing the need to pair scientific breakthroughs with advocacy for equitable diabetes device access and coverage.
The episode concludes with optimism about the future of Canadian T1D research, the work of the Breakthrough T1D Canucks for Kids Fund Centre of Excellence, and a shared belief that the future will offer multiple therapeutic options tailored to the diverse needs of people living with type 1 diabetes.
We thank Breakthrough T1D Canucks for Kids Fund Centre of Excellence for allowing us to be guests on From Beta Cells to Bicycles.
Listen to all five episodes here: https://diabetes-from-beta-cells-to-bicycles.simplecast.com/
