Type 1 Diabetes Trials

Transforming Research Into Treatments

We are proud to be a world leader in both type 1 prevention trials (in pre-diabetics, before the diagnosis of diabetes) and type 1 intervention trials (in newly diagnosed patients still in the “honeymoon period” with some degree of beta cell function).  We also are a leading center conducting islet transplantation clinical trials.

You may wonder why we are a world leader in these type 1 trials?  Nearly ten years ago, Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone, one of the world’s leading experts on why the body’s immune system decides to reject or accept transplanted tissue, was recruited to UCSF.  Dr. Bluestone, whose research has catalyzed recent progress in stem cell research, islet cell transplantation, and immune tolerance therapies, is our Director of the Diabetes Center.  He also serves as Director of the Immune Tolerance Network, a government supported consortium of over 80 of the world’s leading scientific researchers dedicated to the clinical testing of new therapies for immune tolerance. 

Thanks to Dr. Bluestone and his colleagues, we have been involved in initiating phase III clinical trials of a promising monoclonal antibody to investigate its ability to halt the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in type 1 diabetes.  In addition, we have established one of the first, fully certified, state-of-the-art human islet and cellular transplantation facilities to help isolate pancreatic islets for our clinical trials in islet transplantation.

For more information on our type 1 clinical trials, contact Kathleen Fraser.