Help push us towards a world without type 1 diabetes

When both of Lauren’s twin girls Allie and Ayva were diagnosed with T1D before their second birthdays, it was a worrying and uncertain time for the whole family.

“Allie got very, very sick,” Lauren remembers. “She was throwing up a lot, sweating and had a high temperature. She was gasping for air. It was a lot of work learning how to manage it,” she says.

Associate Professor John Wentworth and his JDRF-funded research team are conducting world first research into a revolutionary new treatment for T1D.

They have discovered a drug with the exciting potential to delay, halt and even prevent the onset of T1D altogether.

“The overall goal of our research is to work out how to stop the immune system from attacking the pancreas so we can prevent and ultimately eradicate T1D.

“In the early stages of trials, a drug called baricitinib showed very good effectiveness in protecting the pancreas and halting the loss of insulin production. It has the potential to stop children like Allie and AyvaAyva from getting T1D altogether.

“We’re now ready to put it through the rigorous testing needed to demonstrate it is safe, effective and ready to be used in a clinical setting.”

Will you donate today to support ground-breaking research like A/Prof Wentworth’s, so that it can continue its work pushing us towards a world without T1D?