Type 1 Diabetes Program

Because diabetes requires lifelong management, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston are investigating the earliest stages of the disease in order to understand how the disease develops and how it can be treated.

Perhaps the most exciting project we’re engaged in now is the T1D (type 1 diabetes) Exchange Clinic Registry, which aims to improve the care of people with type 1 diabetes by collecting and sharing data about what works and what doesn’t.

Other current areas of research include:

how to keep the insulin-secreting beta cells alive as a method both for treatment and prevention of Type I diabetes
tempering autoimmune activity in Type I diabetes
long-term follow up of diabetic patients for quality of life
genetic factors for obesity, which can lead to Type II diabetes
genetic factors for diabetes-related kidney failure
predictors related to glycemic control
managing the transition from pediatric to adult care
prevention of the acute complications of diabetes
working with Massachusetts to help track the growing incidence of Type I diabetes in the state

All our researchers are focused on the best ways of translating their findings into improved care for children with diabetes.

Research and innovation
As part of the effort to understand the development of genetic diseases, Children’s has created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are cells taken from patients and reprogrammed to look and function like embryonic stem cells. Scientists use these iPS cells to model the genetic diseases of the patients from whom they were taken, including type I diabetes patients.

New thoughts on inflammation
Low-grade inflammation caused by obesity is widely believed to contribute to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. But, as it turns out, inflammation activates two proteins that appear critical for maintaining good blood sugar levels. Reporting in Nature Medicine, endocrinology researcher Umut Ozcan demonstrates that activating either of these proteins artificially can normalize blood sugar in severely obese and diabetic mice.

New thoughts on inflammation

Low-grade inflammation caused by obesity is widely believed to contribute to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. But, as it turns out, inflammation activates two proteins that appear critical for maintaining good blood sugar levels. Reporting in Nature Medicine, endocrinology researcher Umut Ozcan demonstrates that activating either of these proteins artificially can normalize blood sugar in severely obese and diabetic mice.