Diabetes nonprofit makes strides in Tampa Bay

Breakthrough T1D, a research and advocacy organization dedicated to type 1 diabetes, is making significant progress in the Tampa Bay area through research funding and community outreach.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. Without insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, leading to a host of serious complications, including damage to the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, eyes and nerves. 

Type 1 diabetes typically develops in childhood or adolescence but can occur at any age. Those affected must rely on lifelong insulin therapy to survive. 

Breakthrough T1D was previously named the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), but the nonprofit rebranded in 2024 to more accurately reflect the makeup of the Type 1 Diabetes community.

The Northern Florida chapter, serving the greater Tampa Bay area, Orlando, Jacksonville and the Panhandle, plays a vital role in supporting individuals and families affected by this chronic condition. The organization funds various research initiatives aimed at developing new therapies and, ultimately, a cure for type 1 diabetes. This includes supporting clinical trials and research projects, including many in the Tampa Bay area, focused on innovative treatments like artificial pancreas systems and cell therapies.

John Lum is Director of the Artificial Pancreas Coordinating Center at the Jaeb Center for Health Research, a freestanding, nonprofit coordinating center for multi-center clinical trials and epidemiologic research in Tampa. For nearly two decades, he’s worked on advancements like artificial pancreas systems, also known as automated insulin delivery systems, to continuously monitor glucose levels and automatically adjust insulin delivery, mimicking the function of a healthy pancreas. 

Artificial pancreas systems often utilize “smart” insulin pumps that can communicate with continuous glucose monitors to fine-tune insulin delivery based on real-time glucose levels. These systems can significantly improve glucose control, leading to a better quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes. Many of these advancements were made possible by research funding from Breakthrough T1D.

“World-class diabetes research is being done in the Tampa Bay area by ourselves and others,” Lum said. “We here have run several pivotal trials that have allowed these smart pump makers to get their products approved for people with type 1 diabetes. That’s a great therapeutic option as we’re waiting for the time we can actually have the functional cure.”

An artificial pancreas system uses a continuous glucose monitor, an insulin pump, and a program stored on the pump or a smartphone. The insulin pump can be worn on a belt, stored in a pocket, or attached directly to the skin. Photo: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Researchers and Breakthrough T1D leaders alike say that functional cure is closer than ever. Breakthrough T1D recently launched Project ACT, a transformative initiative designed to expedite the arrival of cell therapies for individuals with type 1 diabetes.

Cell therapies offer the potential to cure the disease by replacing the damaged insulin-producing beta cells. Project ACT focuses on every stage of bringing cell therapies to market, from advancing research to influencing regulatory pathways and ensuring access, with the goal of reducing the time it takes to deliver cures to the T1D community.

“Over the last three or four years in particular, there’s been a lot of steps taken toward a functional cure,” Lum said. “Researchers are taking stem cell lines and developing them so that eventually you’re able to produce a type of cell that can be transplanted into somebody and can essentially turn into a beta cell, which is the cell in your body that produces insulin. If we can have these transplanted cells survive long term and produce insulin, that would, in effect, be a cure.”

Lum added that the biotech companies throughout the U.S. working on these therapies are entering into a handful of pivotal trial periods, bringing these innovative therapies closer to FDA approval and eventually mainstream adoption.

Tom Danford, Board President for Breakthrough T1D’s Northern Florida chapter, is extremely optimistic about what the future holds.

Tom Danford speaking at the 2025 Diabetes Walk.

“This isn’t pie-in-the-sky-type stuff. We’re getting our arms wrapped around this,” Danford said. “Our leadership is saying, ‘In our lifetimes, we’re going to take our pumps off.’”

Danford was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1983, when he was just 9 years old, and has been actively involved with Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) for most of his life. His parents helped found the first JDRF chapter in Minneapolis, their hometown, and Danford has been on the board of Breakthrough T1D’s Northern Florida chapter since 2021. He said the strides he’s seen in type 1 diabetes therapies in his lifetime have been extraordinary.

“When I was first diagnosed, it was like one of the five chronic diseases [where] you’re gonna get amputations, it’s the leading cause of blindness, look out for all these challenges that are going to start happening,” Danford said. “Now, with the technologies like the pump delivery systems, inhaled insulin and fast-acting insulin, so much of this is just life-changing.”

Breakthrough T1D also supports research into therapies that can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes in individuals at high risk of developing the disease.

“So if you’re 7 years old and you’re going to get [type 1 diabetes] maybe three years later, and now you’re 10, there’s just so much more knowledge and ability to communicate and understand what you got to do. It makes a big difference,” Danford explained.

Families, including those with newly diagnosed children, participate in Breakthrough T1D’s annual Diabetes Walk.

On top of his role with the nonprofit, Danford now has firsthand experience in the impact these emerging technologies can have on young people. At Breakthrough T1D’s 2025 Diabetes Walk March 9, Danford’s son said he began having symptoms that are often early signs of type 1 diabetes. A few tests and a trip to the pediatrician confirmed it: Danford’s son now also has the disease.

“So he’s been a diabetic for 48 hours,” Danford said, adding that Breakthrough T1D’s resources and support for families affected by type 1 diabetes are a pivotal part of the nonprofit’s mission.

“I think about that and feel so grateful that I’m part of this community because there’s so much support. I called a friend of mine who had an extra G7 [continuous glucose monitoring system], and I went over to pick it up. We had him on a monitor literally within an hour of diagnosis, and that doesn’t happen if you’re not connected with that type of support and community in the area.”

Danford added that Florida is one of two states that received the most money from the National Institutes of Health for diabetes research in recent years.

“We’re fortunate living in this area, because we’ve got a lot of people that are passionate about this,” he said. “We host a lot of events, and sometimes, that’s all somebody needs. Maybe they’re newly diagnosed, and they’re like, ‘What is this all about?’ That’s one of the things that makes me proud about our Breakthrough T1D community: our advocacy, outreach and our very optimistic goals [toward a cure]. It’s definitely an exciting time for us.”

.