Lara Green of Breakthrough T1D Canada outlines the latest research advances and what they mean for the future of care.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune condition in which insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are mistakenly destroyed by the body’s immune system. For more than 100 years, the only treatment available for this disease has been the administration of exogenous insulin, whether by insulin pump or multiple daily injections. This means constant management of blood glucose levels, carb counting, and making critical decisions about work, rest and play every day. And even with vigilant monitoring, there are risks for long-term diabetes-related complications.
Diabetes Care Community spoke with Dr. Lara Green, PhD, National Director, Research Partnerships and Programs for Breakthrough T1D Canada about the most current T1D research and what can be expected in the future of diabetes care and treatment.
Can you tell us a bit about Breakthrough T1D?
Breakthrough T1D is a global research and advocacy organization for type 1 diabetes. Prior to 2024, we were known as JDRF – Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. JDRF was formed in the 1970s as a grassroots organization by parents of children with T1D. Since then, we have become the largest charitable funder of T1D research worldwide. In 2024, we made the conscious decision to change our name to Breakthrough T1D to better reflect the current state of T1D across the world. T1D is not just a “juvenile” disease, and the majority of new diagnoses happen in adults. In fact, more than 85% of people living with T1D today are adults.
What is Breakthrough T1D’s mission and focus today?
Breakthrough T1D Canada is one of six affiliates across the globe with a mission to fund cutting-edge T1D research, advocate for access and affordability to therapies and diabetes technology and to provide community support and connection to people living with T1D and their families.
Breakthrough T1D Canada also developed a mental health strategy in 2021 in response to a call from the T1D community. As part of this work, we not only fund research into mental health interventions to address the burden of T1D, but we developed an accredited Mental Health Training Program to educate mental health providers across Canada on diabetes distress, disordered eating, and the psychosocial burden of living with a chronic disease like diabetes. Trained providers can opt to be listed in our Directory if they are accepting new patients, so that our community can find mental health support tailored to life with diabetes.
*Please note that most mental health providers typically charge a per visit fee which may be covered by provincial, private or employer benefits.
What areas of T1D research does Breakthrough T1D fund?
We fund research according to our Global Research Strategy. We ensure that a minimum of 70% of research funds go to cure research, which includes early-detection, disease-modifying therapies, and cell therapies (islet replacement). While we work towards a cure for T1D, we fund research to improve lives of individuals living with T1D by funding research into mental health interventions, diabetes technology, adjunctive therapies, and complications related to heart, kidney and eye disease.
As of March 2026, we have more than 70 active research grants in Canada with a multi-year investment of over $70M CAD.
Tell us more about the Canadian research areas of focus?
Canada’s greatest strength in the field of T1D research is cell therapies. One of our largest investments in Canada is the Breakthrough T1D Canucks for Kids Fund Centre of Excellence at the University of British Columbia. The Centre of Excellence has three primary goals:
- Developing a new source of insulin-producing beta cells
- Protecting insulin-producing beta cells from immune attack
- Targeting and monitoring beta cell stress
In addition to the Centre of Excellence, we are currently funding an additional 28 grants across Canada focused on cell therapies.
While cell therapies are focused on curing T1D for individuals with long-standing T1D, we also fund research to detect T1D via screening to provide the opportunity for prevention or delay of clinical diagnosis.
CanScreen T1D is a $12M investment co-funded by Breakthrough T1D and Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility for general population paediatric screening in Canada. By identifying children at high-risk of developing T1D, we can provide the opportunity for disease-modifying therapies to change the progression of the autoimmune attack.
There is currently one approved disease-modifying therapy for T1D called Tzield (also known as teplizumab). This is an immunotherapy shown to delay the onset of clinical diagnosis by an average of three years when given to someone with multiple autoantibodies associated with T1D. There are many more preventative therapies currently in clinical trials which increases the urgency for cost-effective early detection of T1D.
What does the next decade of T1D research look like?
The ‘race’ towards cures for T1D is quickly increasing in both pace and players. There are currently multiple disease-modifying (preventative) therapies and cell (islet replacement) therapies in clinical trials in Canada and around the world. However, the human immune system is still one of the biggest medical and scientific mysteries, and there is lots of research still needed to understand how we will tackle the underlying autoimmunity of T1D. On a preventative therapy front, it’s most likely that combination therapies will be needed to address the many aspects of the initial autoimmune attack on insulin-producing beta cells. That field is slowly starting and will be exciting to watch in the next decade.
On an islet replacement therapy front, we need a renewable source of cells that can be produced in large scale—a challenge that has not been conquered to date. In addition, we need to protect these cells from innate immune attack and autoimmune attack when transplanted into people living with T1D. There is still much more research and many more trials needed to tackle all the complexities of islet replacement, but after a decades-long journey, there are now glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel.
How can people get involved with Breakthrough T1D?
To keep current on the latest T1D research, consider signing up for Breakthrough T1D’s monthly newsletter, and follow at BreakthroughT1D.ca/blog.
If you are interested in participating in T1D research, please sign up for alerts through our T1D Clinical Trials Finder which lists all actively recruiting T1D trials in Canada.
To learn more about cell therapies for T1D and up-to-date trials and results, please visit https://breakthrought1d.ca/cell-therapy.
To volunteer with Breakthrough T1D, please visit this page Volunteer | Breakthrough T1D or sign up to get involved.
If you’d like to donate to our mission, please follow: Donate to Breakthrough T1D Canada.
