Breakthrough T1D Center of Excellence

The Breakthrough T1D Center of Excellence in Northern California is a cure accelerator and a high impact partnership between Stanford University and UCSF within the collaborative structure and support that are hallmarks of Breakthrough T1D. Investigators at the Center seek to better understand and target the interactions between the immune system and the beta cell, in an effort to deliver first-generation, stem cell-based cures for type 1 diabetes.

Islet transplantation has proven to be a viable cure for T1D, but it is not widely applicable due to its reliance upon organ donation, and the need to take immunosuppressive drugs for the patient’s lifetime. This Center will utilize innovative beta cell biology, immunology and a variety of other novel treatments to drive a cell replacement solution that is widely available to people with T1D and without the need for chronic immunosuppression.

Each Breakthrough T1D Center builds on an established depth of T1D excellence that has been sharpened and expanded by world-class leaders focusing on key research areas, such as immunology, stem cell biology, gene editing, and complications. Breakthrough T1D will link the Centers to each other and to ongoing research around the world to ensure maximum collaboration. Designed to foster highly dynamic, nimble work that will drive discovery with maximum speed, these centers provide researchers with long-term funding, removing the red tape, restrictions, and reporting that accompany standard research grants. This allows scientists to focus on research and gives them the freedom to quickly change paths to pursue alternate, promising directions without worrying about lost funding or filing new applications. These Centers will bring together experts from diverse fields and multiple institutions, as well as recruit new talents, to accelerate T1D advances. They will create a new fundraising model helping to maximize resources and link research efforts.

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