This year’s Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) meeting, taking place in Florence, Italy, from March 6 through 9, will have 50 presenters who are or were Breakthrough T1D-funded researchers working toward preventing, treating, and—one day—curing T1D and its complications.
Several members of the Breakthrough T1D research and advocacy teams will be there. Here are select highlights of Breakthrough T1D-funded research that will be featured:
- Replacement: There will be several sessions on stem cell-derived islet transplantation, including:
- Camillo Ricordi, Ph.D., University of Miami, who will be presenting on challenges and potential solutions to stem cell-derived islet therapy as a cure for T1D;
- A Breakthrough T1D-sponsored session chaired and introduced by Esther Latres, Ph.D., who will gather Peter Senior, M.D., Ph.D., University of Alberta, Canada, Qizhi Tang, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, and José Oberholzer, M.D., University of Virginia and co-founder of CellTrans, which had the first FDA-approved cell replacement therapy (Lantidra™) in the United States in 2023;
- A plenary Industry Symposium sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, who will likely provide an update on VX-880, a stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy in T1D for individuals with hypoglycemia unawareness, in combination with immunosuppressive therapy to protect the cells from rejection. As of the last presentation at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), parts A and B had been enrolled, and half of the people treated were insulin independent. We’ve heard that Part C, where participants receive a full dose of the therapy, has completed enrollment, so we’re excited to learn more about this treatment.
- Prevention: In another Breakthrough T1D-sponsored session chaired by Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, Ph.D., APRN, CDCES, Director of Community Screening and Clinical Trial Education, presenters Moshe Phillip, M.D., Schneider Children’s Medical Center and Tel Aviv University, Israel, Linda DiMeglio, M.D., Indiana University, Kirstine Bell, Ph.D., University of Sydney, Australia, and Emanuele Bosi, M.D., Fondazione Centro San Raffaele, Italy, will talk about the international consensus monitoring guidance for presymptomatic (early stage) T1D; the latter will talk about his experience in Italy, which recently approved a law allowing for national pediatric screening for T1D.
- Immune Therapies: Laura Jacobsen, M.D., University of Florida, Jennifer Sherr, M.D., Ph.D., Yale University, and Michael Haller, M.D., University of Florida, will talk about predictors of responders vs. non-responders of immune therapy, Tzield™ (teplizumab-mzwv) in the real-world setting, and the cost-effectiveness of immune therapy, respectively.
- Health Equity: ATTD will have several sessions on health equity in the United States and around the world, with Renza Scibilia, Breakthrough T1D, and Antoinette Moran, M.D., University of Minnesota, talking about the T1D Index, the most accurate and comprehensive data representation of T1D around the world, and the key interventions required to address health disparities experienced by people with T1D. Lori Laffel, M.D., Joslin Diabetes Center, and Stuart Weinzimer, M.D., Yale University, will talk about strategies to facilitate technology use among disadvantaged individuals.
Stay tuned on social media—Facebook at @myJDRF, X (formerly Twitter) at @JDRF, and LinkedIn—for more exciting news at ATTD.
