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Type 1 Diabetes

Improving Lives Today, Investing in a Better Tomorrow

About

The Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) program is dedicated to helping the global T1D community live safer, better, and more fulfilling lives today while funding advancements in research and technology for a better tomorrow.

T1D is an autoimmune disease, and the only one requiring day-to-day management that includes regular dosing decisions with a drug (insulin) that can cause death. It’s a lifelong condition that poses significant burdens on individuals, their loved ones, and on health systems in the United States and around the world.

Current access to care and existing therapies fall short of easing these burdens, and incrementalism is not an option. Helmsley invests in ideas that have the potential for significant impact. We embrace high-risk efforts, led by dedicated leaders who will be partners and share our vision.

Pillars

Living with T1D in the United States

Living with T1D in the United States

Recent improvements in therapies have yet to translate to better outcomes for many people living with T1D.  To change this, we need a reboot in how people connect with their providers and manage their condition – regardless of geography. Helmsley invests in new approaches to care focused both on meeting people where they are, and on treating individuals and their unique needs – not just their symptoms. Telemedicine has an important role to play. So, too, does expanding the base of experts available to the T1D community, especially in places without easy access to specialty care.

Glucose control is front-and-center in the lives of people with T1D, and yet we still lack a complete understanding of the myriad factors that cause glucose levels to rise and fall throughout the day. In addition to funding research to enhance our knowledge, we invest in technologies that hold tremendous promise for improving glucose management and health outcomes for the T1D community. We are committed to empowering individuals with information and better tools to successfully manage the condition. This includes advances in preventing hypoglycemia, and improving automated insulin delivery systems as well as access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM), which have revolutionized T1D care. Our vision is to ease the burden of managing T1D and instead focus on living and thriving.

Transforming the Trajectory of T1D

Transforming the Trajectory of T1D

Knowing if an individual is pre-disposed is essential for monitoring and intervening early to mitigate complications at diagnosis. We support expansion of screening programs to identify those at risk, who may also benefit from early-stage efforts to prevent or delay onset.

Understanding how to prevent the autoimmune attack on the body that stops insulin-producing beta cells from functioning – and thus preventing T1D – is a priority area for investment. So, too, is research on how to delay the progression of T1D once the immune attack has occurred.

Our investments in innovative drugs include targeted immunotherapies designed to protect insulin-producing beta cells, as well as in therapies that restore alpha cell function and that could minimize hypoglycemia.

Expanding Global Access

Expanding Global Access

T1D can be a death sentence when insulin supply chains are fractured, or high costs make insulin and other essential T1D-mangement tools unaffordable. Helmsley supports efforts to ensure that everyone who needs insulin and other supplies can get them at low or no cost. We are addressing immediate needs that help people survive today while tackling longer-term challenges that will lead to systems-level improvements in the future.

T1D is one of many chronic conditions and non-communicable diseases endured by countless individuals across low-and middle-income countries, where health systems are not yet equipped to provide the necessary care for people to thrive. Helmsley is committed to global partnerships to advance quality care across geographies – knowing that stronger systems for all will benefit those with T1D along with hundreds of millions of others and their families, communities, and nations.

T1D by the Numbers

$1.1

billion

committed

840+

grants

awarded

50+

countries

reached

Recent Grants

Association Santé Diabète

Amount: $ 1,500,000.00
Term of Grant: 36 Months
Date of Award: 02.06.2024

Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH)

Amount: $ 22,755,683.00
Term of Grant: 41 Months
Date of Award: 02.06.2024

Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH)

Amount: $ 55,923,322.00
Term of Grant: 85 Months
Date of Award: 02.06.2024

Oakland University

Amount: $ 3,288,575.00
Term of Grant: 36 Months
Date of Award: 01.08.2024

Alliance of Community Health Plans Foundation Inc

Amount: $ 1,539,349.00
Term of Grant: 18 Months
Date of Award: 01.08.2024

Our Team

Gina Agiostratidou

Dr. Gina Agiostratidou is the Program Director for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program as well as its New York City (NYC) program. Through Gina’s leadership, the T1 ...


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Gina Agiostratidou

Program Director

Deniz Dalton

Deniz Dalton is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. In this role, Deniz works predominantly in identifying new T1D technology and device initiati ...


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Deniz Dalton

Program Officer

Maryaline Coffre

Dr. Maryaline Coffre is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She helps to oversee a biomedical research grant portfolio that identifies and inve ...


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Maryaline Coffre

Program Officer

Laurel Koester

Laurel Koester is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She helps to oversee a healthcare models portfolio in which she manages existing grants an ...


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Laurel Koester

Program Officer

Anne Koralova

Dr. Anne Koralova is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She helps to oversee the current research grants portfolio and identify and validate n ...


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Anne Koralova

Program Officer

James Reid

James Reid is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. In this role, he leads the design and implementation of the global strategy to improve access t ...


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James Reid

Program Officer

Sean Sullivan

Dr. Sean Sullivan is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. In this role, he oversees the glucose control grants portfolio, identifying and ev ...


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Sean Sullivan

Program Officer

Ben Williams

Dr. Ben Williams is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes Program (T1D). He helps to oversee a biomedical research grant portfolio that identifies and invests i ...


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Ben Williams

Program Officer

Delina Abadi

Delina Abadi is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. ...


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Delina Abadi

Associate Program Officer

Varunika Bhargava

Varunika Bhargava is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She helps to assess and discover new technologies with the aim of easing th ...


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Varunika Bhargava

Associate Program Officer

Grace Herod

Dr. Grace Herod is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She helps to oversee a biomedical research grant portfolio that identifies an ...


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Grace Herod

Associate Program Officer

Conchi Izquierdo

Dr. Conchi Izquierdo is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She helps to oversee a biomedical research grant portfolio that identifi ...


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Conchi Izquierdo

Associate Program Officer

Sarah Park

Dr. Sangmi Sarah Park is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She manages a biomedical research grant portfolio that investigates the ...


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Sarah Park

Associate Program Officer

Amy Pitts

Amy Pitts is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program, where she works within the “Living with T1D in the U.S.” strategic pillar of th ...


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Amy Pitts

Associate Program Officer

Serena Thadani

Serena Thadani is an Associate Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. She works within the “Living with T1D in the U.S” strategic pillar of the ...


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Serena Thadani

Associate Program Officer

Victoria Tralongo

Victoria Tralongo joined the Helmsley Charitable Trust in April 2014 and is the Executive Assistant for the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. In this role, Victoria wor ...


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Victoria Tralongo

Executive Assistant

Ashley Eliza

Ashley Eliza is the Administrative Assistant for the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. As Administrative Assistant, she supports the T1D Program's efforts to improve lives for people with T1D and p ...


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Ashley Eliza

Administrative Assistant

Quiyanah Hunter

Quiyanah Hunter is an Administrative Assistant for the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. Quiyanah supports the T1D Program’s efforts to improve lives for people with T1D and prevent and delay the ...


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Quiyanah Hunter

Administrative Assistant

Darnell Mitchell

Darnell Mitchell is an Administrative Assistant for the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program. Darnell assists the T1D Program’s efforts to improve lives for people with T1D and prevent and delay the ...


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Darnell Mitchell

Administrative Assistant