The Albanese Government is supporting the next phase of the search for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes through a $50.1 million investment in the Australian Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Research Network (T1DCRN), delivered through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Australia.
Since it was established around 15 years ago, the T1DCRN has:
- funded 83 research projects,
- supported over 450 researchers,
- seen the number of T1D clinical trials and studies double, with
- over 10,000 people participating in clinical trials and studies
The investment includes $50.1m in funding over five years to accelerate clinical research for prevention, treatment and a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, by extending and enhancing the specialised research the Clinical Research Network pioneered.
The funding will support the landmark Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity study, a world-first study seeking to understand the role of environmental triggers on the onset of Type 1 Diabetes, from as early as pregnancy.
It will also establish a prevention screening pilot program that tests children for early-stage Type 1 Diabetes, before symptoms begin, and develops therapies to prevent the disease progressing.
Funding will also go towards research into the kinds of medical technologies that have been lifechanging in the space of cancer care, technologies like genomics and stem cells, to develop personalised treatments and therapies for Australians with Type 1 Diabetes.
Labor has a proud record of supporting Australians living with diabetes, extending back to Kevin Rudd's establishment of the Insulin Pump Program in 2008 and delivering the first funding for the Clinical Research Network in 2010.
The Albanese Government has built on this legacy, by providing every Australian with Type 1 Diabetes with access to a potentially lifesaving Continuous Glucose Monitoring device and expanding access to the Insulin Pump Program.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
"I've been working with JDRF ever since I attended my first Kids in the House event about 15 years ago, and the advances that we've made in those 15 years are just extraordinary.
"When I was a junior minister in the health portfolio, we announced the first money into JDRF's Clinical Research Network and since then it's supported dozens of projects, hundreds of researchers and thousands of patients.
"We've got to continue to push the envelope, explore the frontiers of research, and find a cure for this thing so that type one becomes type none. This $50 million in funding will help us get there."
