A $10 Million Commitment to the Future of Type 1 Diabetes Research

Yale School of Medicine (YSM) is undertaking an ambitious five-year research programme to tackle a fundamental challenge in type 1 diabetes (T1D): understanding why the disease develops and behaves differently across individuals.

Backed by a $10 million grant from the Bukhman Foundation, the programme will bring together a team of immunologists, beta-cell biologists and disease experts to investigate why T1D progresses differently between patients, why individuals respond differently to available treatments, and how new personalised approaches to treatment could improve outcomes.

For people living with T1D, more effective and personalised treatments could make a significant difference to their lives. Achieving this requires a deeper understanding of the disease, including why some patients develop severe clinical diabetes symptoms within months of diagnosis, while others can take nearly a decade, and how treatments can be better tailored to each individual.

By combining expertise across immunology, beta-cell biology and bioinformatics, YSM researchers will use cutting-edge, single-cell technologies and AI to map each person’s immune “fingerprint.” This, along with the development of personalised T1D mouse avatars for human disease, based on YSM’s pioneering humanised mouse models, the team aims to identify who is at risk for T1D, help predict how their disease will unfold and determine which treatments are most likely to be effective for each patient.

Nancy J. Brown, MD, the Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of YSM, said: “We are grateful to Anastasia and Igor Bukhman for their generosity and for the trust they have placed in our investigators. This philanthropic support will enable these researchers to transform how type 1 diabetes is treated by developing precision therapies to modify its course and eventually prevent it.”

With support from the Bukhman Foundation, researchers at YSM will analyse existing and newly collected patient data and samples, develop personalised models for patient responses and test a range of treatments, including existing, repurposed and combination therapies. Through this patient-centred approach, the programme aims to improve the prediction of individual disease risk and develop safer, longer-lasting beta-cell replacement therapies.

The Bukhman Foundation is proud to support Yale, its faculty, the programme and its efforts to expand treatment options and improve outcomes for everyone living with the condition.

About Yale School of Medicine

Yale School of Medicine educates leaders in medicine and science, fostering curiosity and critical inquiry. It is a global leader in biomedical research, clinical care, and medical education. With over 1,700 physicians, Yale provides compassionate care to patients worldwide. The Yale System of Medical Education emphasises critical thinking and independent research, producing leaders in academic medicine.

Images

Anthony DeCarlo, Yale School of Medicine

Richard Kibbey, MD, PhD, with Noah Biru, MS ’23, MPhil ’25, PhD ’27 (candidate). Photo: Anthony DeCarlo, Yale School of Medicine