Our impact in 2022

We’re in the second year of our bold three-year strategy and have made significant progress towards our vision of a world without type 1 diabetes. With our incredible supporters, we’ve been able to advance major breakthroughs in research, transformed access to life-changing technology and expanded our reach to support more people.

It’s this commitment from our funders that’s enabled us to make these significant leaps in 2022. By helping us push the boundaries in our understanding of type 1, together we’re paving the way for future cures that are closer than ever before.

Goal 1: Drive research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes

We’re committed to increasing funding for world-class international type 1 diabetes research, with UK research teams at the forefront.

In April 2022 we launched the £50 million Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, a ground-breaking partnership between JDRF, the Steve Morgan Foundation (SMF) and Diabetes UK which will accelerate research to find cures for type 1 over the next five years. This partnership brings together research team across the UK and will transform the lives of people with type 1 and lead the race towards cures. We are grateful to our long-term major donors, Steve and Sally Morgan, for the £50 million investment, the largest ever single philanthropic gift in the UK for type 1 diabetes research.

We also funded several exciting research projects:

• We’re co-funding a new screening trial that could transform the way type 1 is identified and managed in its earliest stages. The Early Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes project (ELSA) is the first of its kind in the UK to identify children aged 3-13 who are at high risk of developing type 1.
• Teplizumab, an immunotherapy drug, can delay type 1 by up to three years was approved for use in the US. The drug tackles the root cause of the condition and has the potential to slow progression of type 1 in the long-term.
• Under our leadership, the Connect Immune Research partnership is researching the common causes between autoimmune conditions. This will lead to an increase in the development of treatments which target multiple conditions. The initiative welcomed patient support charity British Thyroid Foundation as well as The Royal Free Charity, which supports the three hospitals in the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Goal 2: Accelerate access to type 1 technologies and medicines

We’re influencing greater access to type 1 technology and treatments on the NHS. We’re also empowering people with type 1 to become involved in research and regulatory approval.

• We were delighted with the positive news that everyone with type 1 diabetes in England and Wales will now have access to either flash glucose monitoring or continuous glucose monitor (CGM) technology free on the NHS.
• Scotland approved hybrid closed loop (HCL), also known as the artificial pancreas, a proven treatment at the frontier of health technology. HCL automates many of the constant decisions people with type 1 make by using an advanced algorithm which links insulin pumps to continuous glucose monitors.
• A Parliamentary inquiry into type 1 diabetes and disordered eating (T1DE) was launched. This inquiry has the aim of setting recommendations for the NHS, international research programmes and the wider healthcare system to have more informed evidence and be better equipped to prevent and treat the complexities of living with an eating disorder and type 1.

Goal 3: Support people living with type 1

We’re a trusted source of information and provided expert, specialist information and advice through our website and toolkits.

• We worked collaboratively with Diabetes UK, NHS England and people with lived experience, to produce The Six Principles of Good Peer Support for People Living with Type 1 Diabetes. Having someone who understands what you’re going through when living with type 1 can make a huge difference. Support from other people experiencing type 1, called peer support, can help people learn to manage their condition.
• Living with diabetes can be an overwhelming experience for children and young people. As many as 6 in 10 experience what is known as severe diabetes distress, where their mental health is affected. If untreated, it can lead to depression and even posttraumatic stress disorder. We teamed up with DigiBete to provide children, young people and their families with the information and support they need to live well with type 1 diabetes.