Month: December 2021

2021 Wrap Up

2021 was a year of strength and we believe that 2022 will be one of hope.

Canadians are resilient, and though this pandemic continues to challenge, the tenacious spirit of the JDRF community never wavered. As a result, JDRF was able to progress our important work in supporting the research that will bring us closer to a cure, while improving the lives of people affected by T1D today.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, JDRF had a ground-breaking year in 2021 – funding more dollars to research, building new strategic partnerships, continuing to support newly diagnosed families and sharing the latest updates impacting our T1D Community.

As well, 2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin in Canada. Together, as we commemorated this meaningful milestone, raising awareness for type 1 diabetes (T1D), – we more importantly – recognized the urgent need to accelerate towards a cure.

Some highlights over the past year included:

  • The launch the $100M Campaign to Accelerate and raise nearly 50% of our goal in 1.5 years!
  • The launch the first JDRF Centre of Excellence in Canada at UBC, exclusively focused on a cure for T1D
  • The beginning of the work to address critical gaps in mental health care for the T1D community by launching our new Mental Health and T1D Strategy
  • Secure improved T1D device coverage in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario
  • Advocating the federal government to renew their commitment to the JDRF-CIHR Partnership to Defeat Diabetes, matched by JDRF donors for a $30 million investment, and expand access to the Disability Tax Credit  
  • Supporting two industry-wide challenges in the commercial real estate and wealth management sectors that brought $4.2 million to our JDRF-CIHR Partnership
  • Expanding our JDRF Bag of Hope® program by introducing new, age-appropriate No Limits Care Kits for teens and adults newly diagnosed with T1D
  • Rallying communities across the country in support of JDRF through Walk, Ride, Virtual Galas and other unique fundraisers
  • In Cell Replacement:
    • Vertex announced promising results of its stem cell-based therapy, originally developed by JDRF-funded researcher Douglas Melton.
    • JDRF-funded ViaCyte and CRISPR Therapeutics are launching a Canadian clinical trial of the first gene-edited cell replacement therapy for T1D.
  • In Disease-Modifying Therapies:
    • JDRF-funded researchers are performing advanced clinical trials on a drug called ustekinumab, already approved to treat other autoimmune diseases, that could help slow and halt the progression of T1D
  • In Treatments to Improve Lives:
    • JDRF is funding several studies to reduce the risks and impacts of hypoglycemia, as well as other studies to mitigate T1D complications such as kidney complications and diabetic eye disease
  • In Screening:
    • JDRF launched a Universal Childhood T1D Screening Project in Israel that could provide the basis for similar general population screening worldwide
    • JDRF is helping to facilitate screening for relatives of those with T1D at Sick Kids Hospital via TrialNet

To read more about research updates, please visit www.jdrf/ca/blog to see stories about even more incredible progess that took place over the last year in T1D research and development.

Despite the challenges brought by the continued pandemic, JDRF is more committed than ever to doing all we can to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs for everyone affected by T1D.

One hundred years ago, Canada discovered insulin. With the power of our JDRF community, we believe that Canada can cure diabetes.

Holiday gift guide for people living with diabetes

The holiday season is upon us, and with it, the stress that can come with trying to find that perfect gift for the special people in your life. Let JDRF help with your shopping.

We’ve put together a gift guide with a few creative ideas for your loved ones living with type 1 diabetes – but that can also work for just about anyone on your list. Whether you choose to go simple or fancy, homemade or store-bought – gifts chosen with care will always be a winner.

For the fitness lover

Online exercise subscriptions

Bring the gym to their home, by giving your friend or loved one a subscription to High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) yoga, Pilates or Peleton classes. With so many people making the switch to home workouts, there is a world of choice online at your fingertips.

Fitness trackers

Maintaining an active lifestyle is an important part of effectively managing diabetes and trackers can be great motivators. Help a friend monitor his/her progress with a tool that counts steps and calories burned, observes heart rate and sleep patterns, and syncs it all to a smartphone.

Home exercise equipment

Free weights, exercise bands, yoga mats, even exercise clothing. Consider a gift card or purchase the equipment that they’ll use to stay fit throughout the winter and into the new year.

Turn their home into a spa

Socks and slippers

Foot care is important for everyone, but especially for people with T1D. Compression socks can help with fatigue and nerve pain in the feet. Non-skid, seamless, moisture-wicking socks, along with a pair of slippers with a hard sole and a closed toe can help to prevent slips and falls. Look for cozy socks with fun seasonal patterns.

Body cream

Dry skin and winter go hand in hand, particularly for people with T1D. Glucose monitoring is also easier when skin is moisturized, and with so many scents and brands to choose from – you can make something that is functional feel like being pampered as well.

Humidifier with essential oil reservoir

Help stave off winter dryness with a humidifier. Finding one with an essential oil reservoir can spread soothing scents throughout their house and create a relaxing atmosphere; while helping to ease the sore throats and uncomfortable skin that can result from the dryness of central heating.

For the foodie in your life

Online cooking classes

With so much variety and expertise online, why not offer a subscription to online cooking classes. You can find classes to inspire anyone from a beginner to serious foodie. Consider truffle-making, dumplings or canning/pickling your own veggies and jams.

Cooking equipment

Air fryers are all the rage these days, as a way to enjoy ‘fried’ foods in a healthier way. A slow cooker makes meal planning and prep a lot simpler. Consider this gift to make carb counting and meal planning easier and more fun.

Cookbooks

A professional cookbook, or even a homemade book filled with special family favourite recipes passed down over time will bring joy to the foodie in your life.

For the bookworm

Books

The holidays are the perfect time to catch up on some reading and a good book is always a welcome gift. Or consider a gift card to your local bookstore so your loved one can choose their own. Or perhaps a gift certificate for the e-reader if they prefer to read that way. Reading is a great way to unwind and recharge.

Journaling

If there is a writer in your family, they might appreciate a personalized journal or diary. They can use it to help track blood sugar readings, food intake and exercise. But it can also be a place to be creative, write short stories, poems or just their thoughts on any given day. Be sure they know it’s completely private and only to be shared if they want.

For the fashion forward

Fun and stylish diabetes supply bags

Living with diabetes means carrying a lot around, so why not make that supply bag fashionable and fun? These fashionable accessories are often designed by people who have diabetes, making them the perfect choice.

And supporting a charity, including JDRF will help you to feel good while doing good. The gift of philanthropy goes a long way, and the ripple effect impacts more people than you know.

Whatever the approach, on behalf of everyone at JDRF – we wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season.

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Exciting news: stem cell-based treatments producing insulin in participants with type 1 diabetes

*Image taken from viacyte.com/pipeline/

A significant focus of JDRF is funding the most promising research that could lead to potential cure therapies for type 1 diabetes (T1D).

ViaCyte, a cell replacement company long supported by JDRF, has three separate stem cell replacement therapy products in development, all with the aim of reducing or eliminating the need for external insulin for people with T1D.

Researchers look for ways to use stem cells as a renewable source of insulin-producing cells which, when transplanted, would replace the beta cells that are destroyed in a person with T1D, allowing them to produce insulin again. This would lessen or eliminate the amount of external insulin required by someone living with T1D (either by injection, pen, or pump) for months or even decades.

The biggest challenges to stem cell replacement therapy are identifying the appropriate stem cell source (i.e., pancreatic cells, or liver cells) and ensuring that they both function well and will not be rejected by the recipient’s immune system. Much like a transplanted organ – most stem cell replacement therapies require immunosuppressing medications to prevent rejection.

Updates on ViaCyte Clinical Trials

PEC-Encap (VC-01™; see middle figure) was ViaCyte’s first product including a stem-cell derived precursor that once implanted in humans has demonstrated that they will mature into beta cells that produce insulin.

The company’s second technology, PEC Direct (VC-02™; see top figure), has now been the subject of two papers that report the preliminary results of its clinical study, which involved an international team of clinicians and researchers including several at the University of Alberta and at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).

The UBC-VCH study is part of larger international clinical trials led by ViaCyte, which is also studying the effectiveness of cell-replacement therapy on participants in sites across Canada, the U.S. and Belgium.

One of the new papers reports on 15 trial participants studied at the Vancouver site. At the start of the UBC-VCH study, each participant had several ViaCyte cell-containing devices implanted just below the skin. Each device, thin as a credit card, contained millions of lab-grown cells that originally came from a single stem cell line. These cells had been trained to mature into insulin-producing beta cells.

Six months after implantation, the cells had not only survived but successfully matured into insulin-producing beta cells, which helped the trial participants to sense blood sugar levels and release insulin when needed.

This study used levels of C-peptide (released into the blood as a byproduct of insulin production) to measure insulin produced by the implanted cells. The researchers found C-peptide levels rose after patients ate a meal—evidence of normal beta cell function. This is significant as external insulin (either received via injection, pump or pen) does not generate C-peptide.

Participants also spent 13 per cent more time in target blood sugar range and some were able to reduce the amount of insulin they injected.

The insulin produced through the implanted cells was not enough for participants to forgo external insulin altogether, but the cells did survive and maintain function a full year post-transplantation. This demonstrates the potential for durability of this kind of cell replacement therapy, and may ideally prevent frequent implantation, which must be done surgically. Importantly, the trial did not reveal any safety concerns.

This research was supported by funding from JDRF Canada, as well as Canada’s Stem Cell Network, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, ViaCyte Inc. and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

What does this mean for people with T1D?

These studies offer hope and cautious optimism about cell replacement therapy as a possible pathway to a T1D cure.

“Our findings demonstrate the incredible potential of this stem cell-based treatment. With further research, this treatment could one day eliminate dependence on insulin injections and transform the management of Type 1 diabetes,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Timothy Kieffer, professor in UBC faculty of medicine’s departments of surgery and cellular and physiological sciences, who was recently appointed as ViaCyte’s chief scientific officer.  

The next step is researchers need to determine what cells are optimal for transplantation, and the best transplantation site. There also needs to be further study on how long the cells work effectively, remain safe, whether ta greater number of cells is required for long-term insulin production, and whether it is possible to eliminate immunosuppressive therapy.

A third ViaCyte cell replacement product including a gene-edited stem cell source, VCTX210, developed in partnership with CRISPR Technologies, was recently approved for clinical trial by Health Canada. Unlike the PEC-Direct product used in the newly published results, this product would not require immunosuppression – a key next step on the cell replacement roadmap. (See Figure 3)

Read more here: jdrf.ca/exciting-news-about-new-health-canada-approved-clinical-trials/

The ViaCyte clinical trials are one of several potential cell replacement cures therapies JDRF supports globally, as part of its overall research strategy.  Read more about it here: jdrf.ca/research/