Published on 10 August 2023

Three previously DRWF-funded researchers have received major funding under the Grand Challenge, a project funded by a £50 million donation aimed at improving the lives of people with type 1 diabetes.

A new DRWF podcast looks at the impact of DRWF’s research funding in stimulating vital early development of new treatments and therapies.

A £5 million funding award has been given to three researchers, two of whom have been previously funded by DRWF and one is a current DRWF Research Advisory Board member.

The funding marks the start of the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge programme – set to provide £50 million towards diabetes research over the coming years.

The funding of scientists based around the UK will each solve different problems with the ultimate goal of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.

We caught up with the trio of researchers awarded part of this funding – Dr James Cantley, Dr Victoria Salem and Professor Sarah Richardson – to congratulate them, learn more about their diabetes research and hopes for the future. You can listen to them here.

Headshot of Dr Victoria Salem
Dr James Cantley


Pictures: Dr Victoria Salem and Dr James Cantley. 

The project was funded by a £5 million donation from the Steve Morgan Foundation as part of the Our Lives, Our Choices, Our Voices programme aimed at improving the lives of young people aged between 11-25 with type 1 diabetes.

Dr James Cantley was awarded a DRWF Pump Priming grant in 2019 to investigate the role of Viperin in beta cells as a mechanistic link between enteroviral infection and the development of type 1 diabetes, and is a new member of the Diabetes Wellness Sverige (DWS) Research Advisory Board

Dr Sarah Richardson was awarded a DRWF Non-Clinical Fellowship award in 2010 for her study on Enteroviral infection as a causative factor in human type 1 diabetes.

Dr Vicky Salem joined the DRWF Research Advisory Board in 2021.

Dr Salem said: “I was truly honoured to be invited to join the DRWF advisory board. The board represents the best diabetes researchers from across the UK. They all share the passion and values that make DRWF a really wonderful organisation - one which has patients with diabetes at its heart and is suffused with a culture of kindness and research excellence.”

Around a fifth of the 300,000 people in the UK with type 1 diabetes are aged 25 and under, with many feeling the condition is holding them back and adding to their isolation.

Read more about the research award and projects: DRWF Research: Researchers awarded part of £5 million towards a cure for type 1 diabetes

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