October 16, 2026
Breakthrough T1D hosted its inaugural Clinical & Research Congress (CRC) last weekend in Philadelphia, PA, the city where the nonprofit was founded. CRC took place October 9th to October 11th, marking the first of what is expected to become an annual event.
The congress focused solely and exclusively on type 1 diabetes. This focus is a distinguishing benefit to the T1D community. The other major diabetes conferences held throughout the year address all types of diabetes, with type 2 receiving the most attention. An annual conference focused exclusively on T1D, while remaining open and welcoming to all interested parties, including those who receive grants from Breakthrough T1D and those who do not, could be a good thing.
This report examines the congress’ goals and scope, highlights key research, poses open questions, and discusses what this could mean for the nonprofit moving forward.
What CRC Aimed to Accomplish
The mission of the congress aimed to launch a “first-of-its-kind event dedicated solely to type 1 diabetes breakthroughs in science and medicine,” said Breakthrough T1D, to foster collaboration and innovation to advance care and cure research. It aimed to bring together a wide range of individuals passionate about T1D, including healthcare providers, companies, researchers, clinicians, advocates, and people living with the disease today.
Over 1,000 clinicians, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and people living with the disease attended. Representation included individuals from thirty-three countries. JDCA staff could not attend, but have closely followed news, reports, and individual impressions of the conference.
Major Topics Covered
The conference featured eighty-nine sessions and 321 presentations. Topics were accepted according to alignment with three macro research areas:
- Breakthrough Research in T1D: Early-stage research to inform the development of future T1D therapies, both cure and care-based.
- The Evolving T1D Care Model: Identifying, monitoring, managing, and delivering T1D care.
- Breakthrough Treatments in T1D: Wide-ranging category covering therapies, technologies, and interventions that directly impact all areas of patient outcomes.
All abstracts presented at the congress will be published in the journal of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics on December 14. Because this journal normally publishes only peer-reviewed articles, it is unclear how it will handle the CRC abstracts, some of which have not yet been peer-reviewed.
Key Themes
The following T1D topics received the most ‘buzz’:
- Islet cell therapies were a major focus of the CRC. Emphasis was placed on the potential, hurdles, and future of islet cell therapies as a cure for T1D. Discussions highlighted limitations of full-body immunosuppressants, the potential of cellular reprogramming, and novel protection strategies.
- Disease-modifying therapies were a large topic addressed. The importance of screening and specific therapies to delay T1D was noted.
- T1D stigma, mental health, and diabetes management were addressed: It is estimated that 80% of adults and 98% of teens and young adults report diabetes stigma, which increases the likelihood of mismanagement and complications.
- 'Improving lives' was featured in several presentations, focused on daily life with T1D. This included improving access to care, highlighting new drugs and technology to treat or detect diabetic complications, and using AI in insulin delivery.
- C-Peptide as proof-of-efficacy in trial results. Breakthrough T1D took a surprisingly strong advocacy position that the FDA should accept C-peptide as proof that a trial delivered therapeutic benefit, alongside HbA1c and external insulin requirements. To date, the FDA does not agree.
Practical Cure Related Presentations
Four companies working on at least one aspect of a Practical Cure for T1D presented at the congress. These were primarily discussion-based and did not reveal breakout data. These organizations had already presented major clinical results at earlier conferences this year, including the recently concluded EASD 2026.
- Eledon Pharmaceuticals: Shared clinical data on tegoprubart, the core drug in an immunosuppression regimen to protect transplanted beta cells from the autoimmune attack.
- Sana Biotechnology/Uppsala University: Provided an update on patient 1 in clinical trial testing UP421, islets gene-edited to evade immune detection without immunosuppression.
- Century Therapeutics: Presented preclinical data on CNTY-813, stem cell-derived beta cells (sBCs) gene-edited to avoid the immune system. They reiterated plans to submit an IND by the end of 2026.
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals: Presented an update on phase III clinical trial testing VX-880 (Zimislecel), sBCs protected via full-body immunosuppression. The new trial, VX-017, testing across all blood types, was not discussed.
A Valued Addition to the Conference Calendar?
A congress focused solely on T1D, without other disease areas competing for the spotlight, should be valuable to the T1D community. It also signals to those outside the T1D community that focusing on type 1 diabetes alone is worth it.
However, a few questions and concerns have been raised:
- Will this conference be the one where we learn groundbreaking news and results? Not much new news was shared at this first conference.
- How much of the conference is meant to build the brand or fundraising value of Breakthrough T1D itself? Most of the research highlighted in the CRC official summary is directly supported by Breakthrough T1D or the T1D Fund, raising the question of how much CRC is designed to showcase Breakthrough itself. When asked, Breakthrough T1D stated it reviewed and accepted abstracts without bias.
- What will be the true unique role of this conference among all the other diabetes and research conferences? Breakthrough T1D said CRC’s uniqueness is its sole focus on T1D research and clinical care, and it aims to be a catalyst in this space. But the congress’ impact compared to other conferences held throughout the year is unclear. How will CRC deliver new information, networking opportunities, and capital to T1D research versus other annual meetings?
- Is planning, running, and leading a conference worth the effort, particularly if it shifts resources away from selecting and managing essential grants and investments? The larger and more complex a conference becomes, the more time and resources it will demand from organizational leaders, potentially shifting focus away from grantmaking, investments, and effective stewardship.
CRC Moving Forward
A conference focused solely on T1D, one that truly fosters innovation, networking, and game-changing results, would be highly valuable to the T1D community.
Breakthrough T1D as a host for this event makes a lot of sense—they are the most influential T1D nonprofit in the world. But there is also risk of significant conflicts of interest—those ‘in’ the Breakthrough T1D universe (presumably those who have received a grant or an investment from the T1D Fund) versus those ‘out’ of the Breakthrough universe (presumably those who were rejected by Breakthrough and/or the T1D Fund).
The challenges earlier this year, including the resignation of most previous T1D Fund board members, highlight an important part of the community that, at least as of publication, is ‘out’ of the Breakthrough universe. Overall, the CRC must welcome everyone in the T1D sphere to deliver multi-year impact.
