Breakthrough T1D Celebrates Research Award Winners and Recognizes Type 1 Diabetes Research Leaders

NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough T1D, the leading global type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocacy organization, proudly presented awards to four outstanding leaders in T1D research whose impact has pushed Breakthrough T1D's mission forward. Award recipients include:

• Carla Greenbaum, M.D., George Eisenbarth Award for Type 1 Diabetes Prevention
• William Tamborlane, M.D., Breakthrough T1D David Rumbough Award
• Peter Thompson, Ph.D., Dr. Robert Goldstein Award
• Roy Beck, M.D., Ph.D., Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine, M.D., Excellence in Clinical Research Award

"Breakthrough T1D is honored to present these awards and recognize these incredible individuals who embody our mission to accelerate research toward cures for type 1 diabetes while improving the lives of those who live with it," said Breakthrough T1D Chief Scientific Officer Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D. "This group of researchers has played a role in major scientific breakthroughs that have increased our understanding of T1D and led to technologies and therapies that have changed the course of the disease for millions around the world. We are grateful for their leadership and contributions."

George Eisenbarth Award for Type 1 Diabetes Prevention
Named after esteemed researcher George Eisenbarth, M.D., Ph.D., who provided the foundation for predicting T1D and identifying novel approaches toward prevention and cures, this award recognizes researchers who have made great contributions to preventing T1D.

Dr. Carla Greenbaum is an endocrinologist in the Center for Interventional Immunology at Benaroya Research Institute in Seattle, Washington, an institution internationally renowned for immune disease research and a highly collaborative environment with basic, translational, systems, and clinical researchers working together to accelerate bringing new science to clinical use. Dr. Greenbaum has been at the forefront of understanding the T1D disease process for almost four decades, conducting some of the first studies showing that autoantibodies predict T1D disease years before clinical diagnosis and serving as clinical center director of the Northwest Diabetes Prevention Trial (DPT-1) in the 1990s.    

Dr. Greenbaum later served as vice chair and subsequently chair of Diabetes TrialNet, leading this National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored international network in conducting trials to slow or stop the disease before or after diagnosis, including the landmark trial demonstrating that teplizumab delayed the onset of stage 3 T1D. Currently, she is Co-Director of Diabetes TrialNet Clinical Hub and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the NIH funded Immune Tolerance Network. In addition to academic work, she actively engages with the industry to advance therapies to alter the course of T1D. 

Breakthrough T1D David Rumbough Award
The Breakthrough T1D David Rumbough Award acknowledges an individual who has made outstanding achievements in the field of T1D that have significantly accelerated the Breakthrough T1D mission.

Dr. William Tamborlane had a distinguished career as an academic pediatric endocrinologist and diabetes researcher. His groundbreaking study of the portable insulin pump for individuals with T1D and dedication to the families who participated in the rigorous research protocols changed the trajectory of many people's lives and had a tremendous impact on the field. He understood, with great conviction, that the achievement of glycemic targets would prevent long-term complications—a principle later confirmed unequivocally by the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993. At the time of his retirement from Yale School of Medicine, his curriculum vitae listed over one thousand articles, book chapters, and guidance documents.

Over the course of his career, he received over 25 national and international honors, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF, now Breakthrough T1D) Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine, M.D. Excellence in Clinical Research Award in 2006 and the American Diabetes Association Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award in 2017.

Dr. Robert Goldstein Award
Named for Dr. Robert Goldstein, who played a key role in developing Breakthrough T1D's Research department and served as chief scientific officer for Breakthrough International and Breakthrough T1D Canada for decades, the award recognizes notable early career T1D researchers who show great promise for future work in the field.

Dr. Peter Thompson is associate professor of physiology and pathophysiology in the University of Manitoba's Max Rady College of Medicine and research scientist at the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. He completed his Ph.D. in medical genetics in 2016 studying stem cell biology at the University of British Columbia, and his postdoctoral training in islet biology and T1D at the University of California San Francisco Diabetes Center in 2020. Dr. Thompson established his independent research program as an assistant professor at University of Manitoba in 2020. 

Dr. Thompson's research has focused on senescence as a mechanism contributing to beta cell dysfunction in T1D, and as a potential target for developing disease-modifying therapies. His work highlights the active role beta cells play in disease progression and points to stress response pathways that may offer long term therapeutic opportunities. Dr. Thompson's research program is funded by major national grants including from Breakthrough T1D Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Diabetes Canada.

Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine, M.D., Excellence in Clinical Research Award
This award was established in honor of Breakthrough T1D's (formerly JDRF's) International Chairman, Mary Tyler Moore and her husband, S. Robert Levine, M.D., for their extraordinary commitment to Breakthrough T1D's mission. Established in 2004, this award recognizes leaders and innovators of outstanding clinical and translational T1D research. 

Dr. Roy Beck is a physician and epidemiologist with more than 35 years of experience directing and coordinating multi-center clinical trials. He is the Medical Director of the JAEB Center for Health Research, a nonprofit clinical trial coordinating center in Tampa, Florida that he founded in 1993. Diabetes became a major focus of the JAEB Center and Dr. Beck's research after one of his children developed T1D in the 1990s.

During the last 25 years, he has directed the coordinating center for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Diabetes Research in Children Network, the JDRF (now Breakthrough T1D) Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) Randomized Trial, the Pediatric Diabetes Consortium, the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange, and numerous CGM, automated insulin delivery system, and drug studies funded by NIH, Breakthrough T1D, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and industry. Dr. Beck has been an author or co-author of more than 600 manuscripts in scientific journals.   

Breakthrough T1D research award recipients were recognized at a ceremony in Philadelphia earlier in October 2026.

Breakthrough T1D recognizes and appreciates all the dedicated researchers who are committed to finding cures and improving the lives of those living with T1D.

About Breakthrough T1D, Formerly JDRF
As the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization, Breakthrough T1D helps make everyday life with type 1 diabetes better while driving toward cures. We do this by investing in the most promising research, advocating for progress by working with government to address issues that impact the T1D community, and helping educate and empower individuals facing this condition. 

About Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) 
T1D is an autoimmune condition that causes the pancreas to make very little insulin or none at all. This leads to dependence on insulin therapy and the risk of short and long-term complications, which can include highs and lows in blood sugar; damage to the kidneys, eyes, nerves, and heart; and even death. Globally, it impacts 9.5 million people. Many believe T1D is only diagnosed in childhood and adolescence, but diagnosis in adulthood is common and accounts for nearly 50% of all T1D diagnoses. The onset of T1D has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. There is currently no cure for T1D.
While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. There is currently no cure for T1D.

Contact:
Casey Fielder
[email protected]
509-651-0087

SOURCE Breakthrough T1D, Formerly JDRF