We are delighted to announce an upcoming half-day symposium on Monday 15 May, which will kick start the Novel Insulins section of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge.

The symposium will provide a platform for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from academic and industry backgrounds to discuss the latest breakthroughs in insulin therapy.

Distinguished speakers from across the globe will be presenting at this event, sharing their valuable insights and expertise on the latest advances in new insulin research.

Our mission is to make a meaningful contribution to the field of insulin therapy, and we believe that this symposium represents a crucial step towards achieving our goal.

Dr Eleanor Kennedy, Novel Insulins Grand Challenge Lead said:

“We are thrilled to be hosting the Type 1 diabetes Grand Challenge Novel Insulins symposium, which promises to bring together a diverse range of researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. With internationally renowned speakers and cutting-edge research, this symposium promises to be an exciting event that will drive innovation and progress in the treatment of diabetes.”

The Novel Insulins section of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge has an initial budget of £15 million. Future funding calls will focus on a broad community of scientists, with the aim of addressing the gaps, challenges and opportunities identified through the course of this symposium, and other relevant activities.

Please note that this symposium will be conducted solely in English, and no translation services will be provided. However, for the benefit of those who are unable to attend in person, we will be recording the event.

Sign up to the Type 1 diabetes Grand Challenge Novel Insulins symposium.

We are delighted to announce an upcoming half-day symposium on Monday 15 May, which will kick start the Novel Insulins section of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge.

The symposium will provide a platform for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from academic and industry backgrounds to discuss the latest breakthroughs in insulin therapy.

Distinguished speakers from across the globe will be presenting at this event, sharing their valuable insights and expertise on the latest advances in new insulin research.

Our mission is to make a meaningful contribution to the field of insulin therapy, and we believe that this symposium represents a crucial step towards achieving our goal.

Dr Eleanor Kennedy, Novel Insulins Grand Challenge Lead said:

“We are thrilled to be hosting the Type 1 diabetes Grand Challenge Novel Insulins symposium, which promises to bring together a diverse range of researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. With internationally renowned speakers and cutting-edge research, this symposium promises to be an exciting event that will drive innovation and progress in the treatment of diabetes.”

The Novel Insulins section of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge has an initial budget of £15 million. Future funding calls will focus on a broad community of scientists, with the aim of addressing the gaps, challenges and opportunities identified through the course of this symposium, and other relevant activities.

Please note that this symposium will be conducted solely in English, and no translation services will be provided. However, for the benefit of those who are unable to attend in person, we will be recording the event.

Sign up to the Type 1 diabetes Grand Challenge Novel Insulins symposium.

We are delighted to announce an upcoming half-day symposium on Monday 15 May, which will kick start the Novel Insulins section of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge.

The symposium will provide a platform for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from academic and industry backgrounds to discuss the latest breakthroughs in insulin therapy.

Distinguished speakers from across the globe will be presenting at this event, sharing their valuable insights and expertise on the latest advances in new insulin research.

Our mission is to make a meaningful contribution to the field of insulin therapy, and we believe that this symposium represents a crucial step towards achieving our goal.

Dr Eleanor Kennedy, Novel Insulins Grand Challenge Lead said:

“We are thrilled to be hosting the Type 1 diabetes Grand Challenge Novel Insulins symposium, which promises to bring together a diverse range of researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. With internationally renowned speakers and cutting-edge research, this symposium promises to be an exciting event that will drive innovation and progress in the treatment of diabetes.”

The Novel Insulins section of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge has an initial budget of £15 million. Future funding calls will focus on a broad community of scientists, with the aim of addressing the gaps, challenges and opportunities identified through the course of this symposium, and other relevant activities.

Please note that this symposium will be conducted solely in English, and no translation services will be provided. However, for the benefit of those who are unable to attend in person, we will be recording the event.

Sign up to the Type 1 diabetes Grand Challenge Novel Insulins symposium.

Professor Simon Heller is chair of all three scientific advisory panels in the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, covering beta cells, novel insulins and root causes of type 1 diabetes. Along with the leading experts who sit on these panels, Simon will help to steer the direction of the Grand Challenge to make sure our funding is invested in the right places, with the biggest potential to change the lives of people with type 1 diabetes. He is also Professor of Clinical Diabetes at the University of Sheffield and a world-renowned scientist, whose research has led the way in transforming our understanding of hypoglycaemia.

Why did you want to get involved with the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge?

Simon: “It was a huge honour to be asked to assist in determining how this huge amount of funding could best be used to benefit type 1 diabetes research in the UK. It’s important to me to do my best to see our research move more quickly towards a cure for people with type 1.”

How do you think the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will be a game-changer for type 1 diabetes research?

“I hope that the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will allow the UK to play a major part in moving the research landscape closer to a cure. It will hopefully enable us to do something much more rapidly than we otherwise would be able to.”

What would a cure for type 1 diabetes look like to you?

“A cure would be removing the burden of day-to-day self-management of type 1 diabetes. In particular, it would allow people with the condition to live a life of spontaneity and doing activities which those of us without diabetes often take for granted.”

How did you get into the field of type 1 diabetes research?

“When I arrived at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham as a trainee registrar, I was intending to be a cardiologist. But a six-month placement in a diabetes team changed that. The legendary diabetes researcher Robert Tattersall (who discovered MODY and introduced the world to self-monitoring blood glucose levels) was my boss. He was a wonderful teacher who taught me to listen to people with diabetes and learn for myself how much it asked of people in terms of self-management. He also showed me that it wasn’t the healthcare professionals who made the biggest impact on managing type 1, but instead how much the person themselves could learn and implement about this very complex condition. Robert inspired me to become a researcher and showed me what an interesting and important specialty diabetes is.”

What has been your career highlight so far?

“It’s hard to narrow it down. One highlight is bringing the DAFNE training course – which helps people with type 1 lead a healthy life – from Germany to the UK’s NHS. Another key achievement was discovering that repeated hypos lead to impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia and increased risk of hypoglycaemia. I feel fortunate that I have been involved in research which has made a difference to the lives of people with type 1.”

Tell us something we don’t know about diabetes or the pancreas

“When I was preparing a talk on hypoglycaemia, I learnt that the first definition of 1 unit of insulin was the amount of insulin which could cause an epileptic seizure in a rabbit. This is because over a hundred years ago when insulin was discovered, there was no way of measuring insulin amounts. I read this fact in a wonderful book by Michael Bliss titled The Discovery of Insulin.”

What are you currently working on?

“My main research project at the moment is working with researchers from the USA, UK and Australia on a large research trial. The study is testing what the most effective way of restoring the warnings for hypoglycaemia in people with type 1 who have lost them.”

What skills do you need to have to be a great researcher?

“From working with great researchers, I’ve learnt that they need to be curious, creative and persistent. The best clinical researchers listen to people with lived experience to ensure they address important questions.”

What do you like doing when you’re not working on research?

“I spend my spare time travelling to interesting places, reading, and listening to music – particularly opera. I also love spending time with my family and my three grandkids. Less rewarding in recent years has been my love for Tottenham Hotspur FC.”

What would you be doing if you weren’t a researcher?

“I can’t think of any other careers as rewarding as supporting patients. I’d be very happy just doing clinical work alone.”

Professor Simon Heller is chair of all three scientific advisory panels in the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, covering beta cells, novel insulins and root causes of type 1 diabetes. Along with the leading experts who sit on these panels, Simon will help to steer the direction of the Grand Challenge to make sure our funding is invested in the right places, with the biggest potential to change the lives of people with type 1 diabetes. He is also Professor of Clinical Diabetes at the University of Sheffield and a world-renowned scientist, whose research has led the way in transforming our understanding of hypoglycaemia.

Why did you want to get involved with the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge?

Simon: “It was a huge honour to be asked to assist in determining how this huge amount of funding could best be used to benefit type 1 diabetes research in the UK. It’s important to me to do my best to see our research move more quickly towards a cure for people with type 1.”

How do you think the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will be a game-changer for type 1 diabetes research?

“I hope that the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will allow the UK to play a major part in moving the research landscape closer to a cure. It will hopefully enable us to do something much more rapidly than we otherwise would be able to.”

What would a cure for type 1 diabetes look like to you?

“A cure would be removing the burden of day-to-day self-management of type 1 diabetes. In particular, it would allow people with the condition to live a life of spontaneity and doing activities which those of us without diabetes often take for granted.”

How did you get into the field of type 1 diabetes research?

“When I arrived at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham as a trainee registrar, I was intending to be a cardiologist. But a six-month placement in a diabetes team changed that. The legendary diabetes researcher Robert Tattersall (who discovered MODY and introduced the world to self-monitoring blood glucose levels) was my boss. He was a wonderful teacher who taught me to listen to people with diabetes and learn for myself how much it asked of people in terms of self-management. He also showed me that it wasn’t the healthcare professionals who made the biggest impact on managing type 1, but instead how much the person themselves could learn and implement about this very complex condition. Robert inspired me to become a researcher and showed me what an interesting and important specialty diabetes is.”

What has been your career highlight so far?

“It’s hard to narrow it down. One highlight is bringing the DAFNE training course – which helps people with type 1 lead a healthy life – from Germany to the UK’s NHS. Another key achievement was discovering that repeated hypos lead to impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia and increased risk of hypoglycaemia. I feel fortunate that I have been involved in research which has made a difference to the lives of people with type 1.”

Tell us something we don’t know about diabetes or the pancreas

“When I was preparing a talk on hypoglycaemia, I learnt that the first definition of 1 unit of insulin was the amount of insulin which could cause an epileptic seizure in a rabbit. This is because over a hundred years ago when insulin was discovered, there was no way of measuring insulin amounts. I read this fact in a wonderful book by Michael Bliss titled The Discovery of Insulin.”

What are you currently working on?

“My main research project at the moment is working with researchers from the USA, UK and Australia on a large research trial. The study is testing what the most effective way of restoring the warnings for hypoglycaemia in people with type 1 who have lost them.”

What skills do you need to have to be a great researcher?

“From working with great researchers, I’ve learnt that they need to be curious, creative and persistent. The best clinical researchers listen to people with lived experience to ensure they address important questions.”

What do you like doing when you’re not working on research?

“I spend my spare time travelling to interesting places, reading, and listening to music – particularly opera. I also love spending time with my family and my three grandkids. Less rewarding in recent years has been my love for Tottenham Hotspur FC.”

What would you be doing if you weren’t a researcher?

“I can’t think of any other careers as rewarding as supporting patients. I’d be very happy just doing clinical work alone.”

Professor Simon Heller is chair of all three scientific advisory panels in the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, covering beta cells, novel insulins and root causes of type 1 diabetes. Along with the leading experts who sit on these panels, Simon will help to steer the direction of the Grand Challenge to make sure our funding is invested in the right places, with the biggest potential to change the lives of people with type 1 diabetes. He is also Professor of Clinical Diabetes at the University of Sheffield and a world-renowned scientist, whose research has led the way in transforming our understanding of hypoglycaemia.

Why did you want to get involved with the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge?

Simon: “It was a huge honour to be asked to assist in determining how this huge amount of funding could best be used to benefit type 1 diabetes research in the UK. It’s important to me to do my best to see our research move more quickly towards a cure for people with type 1.”

How do you think the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will be a game-changer for type 1 diabetes research?

“I hope that the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will allow the UK to play a major part in moving the research landscape closer to a cure. It will hopefully enable us to do something much more rapidly than we otherwise would be able to.”

What would a cure for type 1 diabetes look like to you?

“A cure would be removing the burden of day-to-day self-management of type 1 diabetes. In particular, it would allow people with the condition to live a life of spontaneity and doing activities which those of us without diabetes often take for granted.”

How did you get into the field of type 1 diabetes research?

“When I arrived at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham as a trainee registrar, I was intending to be a cardiologist. But a six-month placement in a diabetes team changed that. The legendary diabetes researcher Robert Tattersall (who discovered MODY and introduced the world to self-monitoring blood glucose levels) was my boss. He was a wonderful teacher who taught me to listen to people with diabetes and learn for myself how much it asked of people in terms of self-management. He also showed me that it wasn’t the healthcare professionals who made the biggest impact on managing type 1, but instead how much the person themselves could learn and implement about this very complex condition. Robert inspired me to become a researcher and showed me what an interesting and important specialty diabetes is.”

What has been your career highlight so far?

“It’s hard to narrow it down. One highlight is bringing the DAFNE training course – which helps people with type 1 lead a healthy life – from Germany to the UK’s NHS. Another key achievement was discovering that repeated hypos lead to impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia and increased risk of hypoglycaemia. I feel fortunate that I have been involved in research which has made a difference to the lives of people with type 1.”

Tell us something we don’t know about diabetes or the pancreas

“When I was preparing a talk on hypoglycaemia, I learnt that the first definition of 1 unit of insulin was the amount of insulin which could cause an epileptic seizure in a rabbit. This is because over a hundred years ago when insulin was discovered, there was no way of measuring insulin amounts. I read this fact in a wonderful book by Michael Bliss titled The Discovery of Insulin.”

What are you currently working on?

“My main research project at the moment is working with researchers from the USA, UK and Australia on a large research trial. The study is testing what the most effective way of restoring the warnings for hypoglycaemia in people with type 1 who have lost them.”

What skills do you need to have to be a great researcher?

“From working with great researchers, I’ve learnt that they need to be curious, creative and persistent. The best clinical researchers listen to people with lived experience to ensure they address important questions.”

What do you like doing when you’re not working on research?

“I spend my spare time travelling to interesting places, reading, and listening to music – particularly opera. I also love spending time with my family and my three grandkids. Less rewarding in recent years has been my love for Tottenham Hotspur FC.”

What would you be doing if you weren’t a researcher?

“I can’t think of any other careers as rewarding as supporting patients. I’d be very happy just doing clinical work alone.”

Following the exciting announcement in April about a new partnership between the Steve Morgan Foundation, Diabetes UK and JDRF to invest £50m into game-changing type 1 diabetes research, we have opened our first funding round. We’re calling on scientists to submit research proposals that could be transformational for people with type 1 diabetes.

First-class research cannot happen without first class researchers. Diabetes UK and JDRF are committed to nurturing the diabetes research leaders of the future, so for the first research call we have worked together to develop a new senior fellowship programme.

Supporting the best research minds

Fellowships are awards for individual researchers that support them to develop their careers, build their own research teams, and make diabetes research their life’s work.

The new Type 1 Diabetes Senior Research Fellowship will allow exceptional researchers, with a track-record of impactful research, to become world leaders in their field and lead the race for new treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes.

The fellowship will award scientists up to £1.5 million to research:

• the root causes of type 1 diabetes, and/or
• treatments to replace or rescue insulin-making beta cells in people with type 1 diabetes

These areas, along with novel insulins, were identified as carrying the most potential to improve the lives of people with type 1 diabetes and propel us towards a cure.

The research community will have until September 2022 to shape their ideas and apply for the fellowship. Diabetes UK and JDRF will then work with research experts and people living with or affected by type 1 diabetes to review the applications. They will select those submitted by researchers with exceptional track-records and that involve the highest quality science, with the greatest chance of benefiting people with type 1 diabetes. We expect to announce the final funding decisions in early 2023 and will keep you updated.

This fellowship will be administered by Diabetes UK on behalf of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge Partnership.

If you’re a diabetes researcher, find out more information about the call and application process.

Following the exciting announcement in April about a new partnership between the Steve Morgan Foundation, Diabetes UK and JDRF to invest £50m into game-changing type 1 diabetes research, we have opened our first funding round. We’re calling on scientists to submit research proposals that could be transformational for people with type 1 diabetes.

First-class research cannot happen without first class researchers. Diabetes UK and JDRF are committed to nurturing the diabetes research leaders of the future, so for the first research call we have worked together to develop a new senior fellowship programme.

Supporting the best research minds

Fellowships are awards for individual researchers that support them to develop their careers, build their own research teams, and make diabetes research their life’s work.

The new Type 1 Diabetes Senior Research Fellowship will allow exceptional researchers, with a track-record of impactful research, to become world leaders in their field and lead the race for new treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes.

The fellowship will award scientists up to £1.5 million to research:

• the root causes of type 1 diabetes, and/or
• treatments to replace or rescue insulin-making beta cells in people with type 1 diabetes

These areas, along with novel insulins, were identified as carrying the most potential to improve the lives of people with type 1 diabetes and propel us towards a cure.

“We want to help bring about change for the whole type 1 community,” explains Steve. “The community is a tight family made up of those who have type 1 and those who care for them. The Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge aims to find better solutions for everyone.”

Steve and Sally were introduced to the type 1 community and the relentless daily management of the condition when Sally’s son Hugo was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of seven.

“Hugo was diagnosed whilst we were on holiday in Antigua,” says Sally. “Despite having all the tell-tale signs: sudden weight loss, lethargy, excessive drinking etc. we had not comprehended how seriously poorly he was. As with any recent diagnosis understanding how to manage Hugo’s diabetes was a huge learning curve, both practically and mentally.”

Steve adds: “The diagnosis was a shock but we quickly got on the case – we weren’t going to take it lying down! Following his diagnosis in July, he went onto a pump in September. We’re constantly looking at new technologies and asking if we should be looking at smart pens, different sensors and more.”

While technology plays an important part in the management of Hugo’s type 1, Steve and Sally believe in the power of research to bring about better treatments, and eventually a cure.

Steve and Sally were introduced to JDRF and the world of type 1 research when Hugo was being cared for by the Countess of Chester Hospital. Sally explains: “Hugo was given a KIDSAC that contained Rufus the bear. That bear especially helped Hugo, he would frequently use it to practice injections and explain his condition to teachers and classmates. Philanthropy is important to us, so I decided to do some due diligence into JDRF as a charity. We liked what we learned and 12 months after Hugo’s diagnosis we approached the charity about making a meaningful donation.”

Steve and Sally have a long history of philanthropic giving. In 2001 Steve founded the Steve Morgan Foundation to support projects that help children and families, people with physical or learning disabilities, the elderly, or those that are socially disadvantaged in North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire. Since its launch, the Foundation has committed assets of £300 million for charities and supported over 2,000 grants, which have benefitted over 3 million people.

“Four years ago, we donated £3m to JDRF,” says Steve. “We wanted it to go directly into research. We followed through with subsequent grants. We’ve never, ever just sat back and written cheques. We don’t want what we donate to end up being swallowed up by the administration costs, we want it to go directly to where it’s needed. In this case to finding a cure for Type I diabetes.”

The latest donation of £50 million to Diabetes UK and JDRF will be directed into three main avenues of research. Over the next five years the partnership will challenge scientists to come up with pioneering research ideas focusing on new insulins, treatments to stop the immune system’s attack on insulin-making beta cells and treatments to rescue and replace beta cells.

“When we told Hugo about the £50m donation, he just burst into tears and gave Steve a great big hug,” says Sally. “It shows the size of what he has to deal with on a day-to-day basis due to his type 1 diabetes. The donation is for everyone living with type 1, it gives hope.”

The scale of the donation and ambitions of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge will allow the partnership to make bigger strides forward in the search for more effective treatments and eventually a cure, giving everyone with type 1 hope that in the future type 1 diabetes won’t be the continuous burden that it currently is.

“It would be in our wildest dreams to get a cure at the end of these five years,” says Steve. “If nothing else it will bring forward that day.”