The work of type 1 diabetes (T1D) researchers is so compelling and full of hope. But it also is a bit shrouded in curious mystery.

What goes on inside the many labs all around the world? Who are these scientists, what drives them and what gives us reason to be excited about the advances they are making toward both cures and in improving the lives of those living with the disease today?

Aiming to share a bit of what our teams see every day, we traveled to Boston—one of the leading T1D research areas in the world, which includes more than 10 separate institutions working in urgent collaboration, along with start-ups and leading subject-matter experts.

Today, we share the results of that trip and more than 15 interviews and lab visits as we introduce Inside the Lab at Boston, a seven-part video series that shares researchers’ work, hope and excitement.

Through this series, you will see how your support of JDRF is driving forward promising research, building cross-institution collaboration and supporting young researchers entering the T1D field.

You also will hear leading researchers talk about how “this is a solvable problem,” that “there will be a day when people will throw away their pumps and continuous glucose monitors.” One expert says, “I am hoping that my work will prevent T1D from occurring in the first place.”

The Series

The first video in this series is “Boston: A Global Leader of Type 1 Diabetes Research.” This video features renowned scientists—including Robert Langer, Sc.D., Douglas Melton, Ph.D., and Jennifer Sun, M.D., M.P.H.—as well as investigators who are just entering the T1D research space.

Every Tuesday through October and again in December we will share another video:

• Beta Cell Replacement
• Beta Cell Regeneration
• Prevention
• Eye Complications
• Kidney Complications
• Immune Therapy

Special Thanks

We give special thanks to the Boston scientists who took the time to share their work with all of us so that we can join in their excitement for the progress that is underway and what is still to come.

Boston Children’s Hospital—Juan Melero-Martin, Ph.D.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital—Reza Abdi, M.D.
Broad Institute—Bridget Wagner, Ph.D.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—Kacey Prentice, Ph.D. (mentor: Gokhan Hotamisligil)
Harvard University—Douglas A. Melton, Ph.D., and Elad Sintov, Ph.D. (mentor: Douglas Melton)
Joslin Diabetes Center—Manoj Gupta, Ph.D. (mentor: Rohit Kulkarni), Monika Niewczas, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and Jennifer Sun, M.D., M.P.H.
Massachusetts General Hospital—Mark Poznansky, M.D., Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Daniel Anderson, Ph.D., Chandra Bhattacharya, Ph.D. (mentor: Dan Anderson), and Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.