Major new clinical trial network announced for type 1 diabetes

A $33.9-million initiative to support clinical trials evaluating new treatments and technologies for type 1 diabetes in Canada has been launched by Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Canada.The JDRF Canadian Clinical Trial Network (JDRF CCTN) will bring together top physicians, scientists, researchers and innovators from leading universities, hospitals and industry to accelerate the development of treatments and a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications.“There are more than three million Canadians living with some form of diabetes – that’s nearly 10% of our population. And 300,000 of those individuals are living with type 1 diabetes,” says Andrew McKee, president and CEO of JDRF Canada.“JDRF has created a network to harness great Canadian and international ideas about basic and translational science and is developing those ideas right here in Canada, with Canadian expertise, for the benefit of everyone touched by type 1 diabetes.”The JDRF CCTN currently comprises leading hospitals and universities in southern Ontario, including:The Hospital for Sick Children and University Health Network in TorontoThe University of Western Ontario and Lawson Health Research Institute in LondonThe Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in OttawaRobarts Clinical Trials at the University of Western Ontario serves as JDRF CCTN’s clinical operations centre, and the University of Waterloo serves as the informatics coordinating centre.Created in partnership with the federal government, funding for the JDRF CCTN came from a commitment of $20 million by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), with an additional $13.9 million contribution from JDRF.“By investing in the Canadian Clinical Trial Network, we are investing in science, technology and innovation, as well as creating new jobs in clinical research,” says Gary Goodyear, minister of state for FedDev Ontario and for science and technology. “These trials will bring new cures and therapies for type 1 diabetes to the marketplace, benefiting Canadians living with this illness, as well as those who could one day develop it.”

Major new clinical trial network announced for type 1 diabetes

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