
Our Approach
Insulin therapy must be calculated carefully, based on food intake, exercise, stress, illness, and other (often unpredictable) factors. As a result, people with T1D spend hours a day with blood-sugar levels outside the recommended range, putting them at risk for dangerous high- and low-blood-sugar episodes. Our goal is to make T1D easier—and less burdensome—to live with.
Program Goals
Create next-generation insulins, including:
• Glucose-responsive insulin (GRI) that automatically responds to changes in blood glucose.
• Ultra-rapid insulin (URI) that works faster, more closely mimicking the insulin naturally produced in the pancreas.
• Liver-targeted insulin (LTI) that gets to the liver where it can be more effective.
Discover combination therapies—using insulin and other drugs—to dramatically improve daily blood-sugar management, including:
• Insulin and pramlintide co-formulations, which have the potential to be more effective than insulin alone.
• SGLT inhibitors, which are approved for use in type 2 diabetes (and, in Europe and Japan, for T1D).
• GLP-1 category drugs,such as semaglutide, that are also approved for use in type 2 diabetes.
Support the development of better, smaller devices that improve on current state, including:
• Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) with continuous ketone monitoring.
• Smaller, easier to wear CGMs and insulin pumps.
• Improved algorithms.
Progress

Looking ahead
One day, thanks to improved insulin formulations and other drugs and devices, staying within ideal blood-sugar range is no longer a challenge.
Want to learn more? View JDRF Scientist Jonathan Rosen, Ph.D., as he explains JDRF’s efforts in this area.

Improving Quality of Life
Discovering therapies that intervene in diabetic eye and kidney disease at earlier stages, preventing them from advancing and reducing the mental burden of T1D through research and clinical trials, developing interventions that help people with T1D do better.

Cures
We don’t have cures for T1D yet, but we know what must be done to make them a reality.