Eelco de Koning, professor and endocrinologist at LUMC, will lead the new center: “LUMC is a true pioneer in regenerative medicine and already has extensive expertise in T1D. Cure One brings together all the necessary knowledge to work toward a single shared goal: a cure for people with type 1 diabetes.”

A cure for everyone

Since 2007, LUMC has been the only university medical center in the Netherlands performing islet transplants, in which the islets of Langerhans from donor organs are transplanted to replace the function of the patient’s lost islets. These islets contain insulin-producing cells. If enough islets can be transplanted, functional cure is possible. However, due to a shortage of donor organs and the need for intensive lifelong immunosuppressive therapy, islet transplantation is currently applied to only a small group of T1D patients.

De Koning explains: “Thanks to DON and the launch of Cure One, we can further develop innovative technologies. Using stem cells, we are working toward a cure that could be accessible to everyone. Stem cells potentially provide a new and inexhaustible source of insulin-producing cells. The next challenge is transplanting these cells without the need for lifelong immunosuppressive medication. For example, by first generating pluripotent stem cells from a T1D patient and then differentiating them into their own insulin-producing cells, or by developing pluripotent stem cells that will not be rejected.”

Time for acceleration

The opening of the new center follows several recent breakthroughs in type 1 diabetes research, and Cure One builds on this momentum.

LUMC is one of the centers involved in the international FORWARD study. Interim results from this study were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Diabetes Association conference.

Other significant steps toward a T1D cure have also been made at LUMC. Researchers have developed a new method to improve the production of stem cell-derived islets and discovered how genetic predisposition determines the risk of type 1 diabetes. This knowledge is crucial for developing new curative treatments.

Collaboration and funding for the new research center

“We have invested millions over the years in promising research, and now it is time to bring everything together in one place at LUMC,” says Peter Frans Pauwels, chairman of Stichting DON. DON has accumulated extensive knowledge on T1D and actively raises funds for scientific research, with the ultimate goal of curing the disease.

The center has received a multi-year commitment from DON for basic funding and will also rely on additional funding from governments, societal organizations, and institutions.

“This is no longer a dream — this is a plan,” says Prof. Dr. Martin Schalij, chairman of the LUMC Executive Board. “We have the knowledge, the people, and now also the structure to make a difference.”

The center will be officially inaugurated on November 14, World Diabetes Day.