About JDRF

JDRF is the leading supporter of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research in the world.

Our vision? A world without type 1 diabetes.

JDRF has transformed the understanding of this disease and been a part of every breakthrough in T1D care in the last 50 years. We drive innovation, demand action and stand with everyone facing life with T1D.

JDRF was founded in the USA more than 50 years ago. It all began when two mums had a dream that no family would have to feel the devastation of T1D like they had after their children received the diagnosis.

They didn’t just want better treatments, they wanted to find a cure.

At the same time two mums in Australia had a shared hope, and in 1972 Geraldine Pack and Lorna Mellor founded DIABS, later becoming The Diabetes Youth Foundation, then Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Australia, an affiliate of the international foundation.

What began as a dream in family homes across the world has grown into a global organisation dedicated to ending T1D by making cutting-edge T1D research possible.

For the past five decades, JDRF Australia has been working tirelessly towards this cause, with every single dollar raised committed to taking a cure from hope to reality – while making the lives of people with T1D easier, safer, and healthier until that happens.

We connect the leading individuals in every discipline, industry and organisation with a single focus of eradicating T1D. With over 50 years of investment in the best researchers, we support an innovative pipeline of research from the earliest stages through to clinical trials of new treatments, devices and therapies.

JDRF Australia’s key vehicle for progressing research advancements is the Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Research Network (T1DCRN), a dynamic, extensive network of dedicated, world-class researchers who work together to deliver breakthroughs that benefit all people with or at risk of developing T1D.

Alongside this, we advocate for greater access or financial support so that everyone living with T1D can access life-changing new therapies.

We work to improve the lives of those affected by type 1 diabetes in three ways.

Research: We evaluate the global research landscape and support the most promising programs from innovative early-stage research through to life-changing clinical trials – all with the goal of treating, preventing or curing T1D.

Advocacy: We push to shape government policy and approval for new treatments, advocating for research funding and financial support.

Community: We provide support for the T1D community, creating connections across the T1D field and sharing knowledge.

Until we find a cure we are working to make each day better, safer and easier than the day before for someone living with T1D.

Some of the collective achievements we have had to date include:

• $266 m invested in T1D research in Australia since our inception*
• 70 cutting-edge research projects made possible through $58 million of T1DCRN funding
• 450 of the best and brightest T1D researchers supported through the T1DCRN
• Giving every Australian with T1D access to subsidised continuous glucose monitors, thanks to our advocacy
• Doubling of clinical trials and studies through the T1DCRN, with over 7,200 people participating
• Over 12,00 KIDSAC packs provided to families with a recent T1D diagnosis over the last decade, supporting and easing them into their T1D journey
• More than 2,500 insulin pumps provided through the Insulin Pump Program
• Involvement in every stage of the discovery and FDA approval of Teplizumab, the first new treatment for T1D in more than 100 years, that can delay the progression of T1D if administered in the early stages of the condition

Together we will win the fight against T1D.

* All research projects based in Australia since our inception, funded by JDRF Australia, mission partnerships, and JDRF international affiliates.

At the heart of everything we do at JDRF are the 130,000+ Australians who live with T1D, and the 3,000+ children and adults who are newly diagnosed each year.

Our JDRF Blue Army is our community – those who are in battle with T1D every day and the families, carers, teachers and friends who fight to support them. It’s also our team, scientists, researchers, diabetes educators, nurses, parliamentarians, volunteers, corporate partners and donors who have accepted the mission to create a world without T1D.

The Blue Army is a movement that exists to defeat T1D by challenging yourself, hosting an event, creating your own event or joining a community event like a fun run and much more. By participating, you help JDRF to raise funds for researchers who are working to improve lives and cure T1D.

Together, with your help, we will create a world without T1D, so come join us!