Bright minds + early funding = big impact

For many people, June brings the excitement of graduation ceremonies and—after the tassels have been turned and the caps tossed—a look toward the future. At JDRF, we want the future to be one without type 1 diabetes (T1D). We are creating this future by funding and advocating for breakthrough scientific research. One of our strategies is to help promising scientists establish their careers in the field of T1D research. This approach can have amazing results, like it did with the disease poliomyelitis.

In 1948, just a few years after earning his medical degree, Dr. Jonas Edward Salk obtained funding from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as the March of Dimes Foundation) to study polio. This inspired him to devote the next seven years of his life to developing a vaccine. Salk’s vaccine was a success, and public vaccination programs saved tens of thousands of Americans from the debilitating disease within just a few years (see chart).

The early funding Salk received set the course for his career and enabled breakthroughs that have nearly eradicated polio worldwide. The potential to achieve the same for T1D is what makes supporting early-career scientists a priority for JDRF. We want the brightest minds in medical research to be focused on T1D.

Meet the early-career investigators backed by JDRF to explore new ways to cure, prevent and treat T1D. They are using cutting-edge techniques to develop innovative therapies, as well as analyzing the onset and progression of the disease to learn how to stop it. They are the future of T1D research.