For nearly 15 years, the Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance (JDCA) carved out a unique role in the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community. Rather than funding research, running clinical trials, or sponsoring fundraisers, the organization has focused on tracking progress toward what it calls a “practical cure” for T1D.
JDCA was founded in 2011 by Brian G. Kelly, who had become frustrated by what he saw as the slow pace of progress. His son, Tommy, was diagnosed with T1D at age 2 in 2006. Kelly wanted to understand why, despite so much effort and money over decades, a cure remained elusive.
He founded JDCA with the belief that greater transparency and accountability around how donor dollars are spent could help accelerate progress toward a cure.
“We were that transparency and accountability missing piece," said Jeff Ohanian, JDCA's marketing and communications manager, who was diagnosed with T1D shortly after college. "I think 98% of the people in the T1D community that we survey donate solely because they want a cure for themselves, their child, or a loved one living with T1D today. So we were sort of the voice piece for these people.”
Today, JDCA’s work is focused on three areas: advocacy, information, and, increasingly, tracking the commercial sector.
Its research team regularly combs the public clinical trials database, categorizing studies based on whether JDCA believes they have the potential to contribute to a cure. The organization then tracks which projects are advancing and which have stalled.
As of the end of August 2026, there were 654 T1D clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, said Kenzie Thomson, JDCA's editorial and research associate manager. Of those, 12 met JDCA’s criteria for a full “practical cure” for T1D, or had the potential to do so, she said.
Central to JDCA's work is the term "practical cure," which the organization coined to describe an approach it believes could be feasible within the next 15 years. The concept differs from what might be considered an "idealized cure," which would permanently restore the body’s ability to regulate glucose levels.
A “practical cure,” Thomson said, is intended to be more attainable. Its focus is on substantially reducing or eliminating the day-to-day burdens of living with T1D, even if the underlying disease itself remains.
“We specifically created the term ‘practical cure’ because it could be feasible within the next 15 years,” she said. “If we're talking about cell replacement solutions, we have a lot of companies in clinical trials that are testing sustainable stem cell-driven beta cells that could be produced at scale, potentially available to everyone in the T1D community. We're not there yet. We still have a long way to go, but it's in sight.”
Ohanian compares the concept with HIV treatments that allow people to manage the disease without experiencing many of its symptoms on a daily basis.
The goal is to get to a place where people with T1D can “live a life as near normal as possible," he said.
"I might still have T1D, but I won't feel the burdens," he said.
JDCA updates its list of qualifying “practical cure” projects twice a year, tracking programs that have advanced, stalled, or newly met its criteria. The organization publishes the updates on its website.
For JDCA, tracking research is about more than identifying promising developments. The organization also aims to help people with T1D and their families distinguish between meaningful progress and claims that may not yet be supported by clinical evidence.
That distinction matters in a community that has heard predictions about a cure being “just five years away” for decades.
"When you're told that for many years,” he said, “you start to grow frustrated and jaded and never feel like the cure is ever going to be possible.”
At the same time, Thomson sees reasons for renewed optimism, pointing to several research approaches now moving through the pipeline. These include cell regeneration and replacement, glucose-responsive insulin that could potentially be delivered through a patch, smaller and more advanced artificial pancreas systems, gene editing, and certain forms of immune modulation.
"It's very exciting, and there is hope, but of course, there are still hurdles,” Ohanian said, noting that in recent years the growth of commercial research has added new energy to the mix. “There's a high motivation within the for-profit side as well to get something to market.”
Perhaps one of the most significant shifts in JDCA's work in recent years has been its increased focus on the commercial sector. Some areas of T1D research that were once largely concentrated in academic labs and nonprofits are now attracting venture-backed biotechnology companies.
"Five or so years ago, we started to see a lot of breakthroughs in clinical trials," Thomson said, pointing to stem cell-derived beta cell therapy now in Phase 3 trials as one example.
"This has generated a lot of excitement, a lot of capital, and a lot of commercial interest in type 1 diabetes research and cure research."
JDCA now tracks 44 companies conducting some form of T1D cure research, either pursuing what it considers a “practical cure” or developing a component that could contribute to one. The organization has also shifted to quarterly reporting on the sector.
"We've also broadened the scope of what we look at," Thomson said. By following research from its earliest stages, JDCA hopes to provide a broader view of the “cure research ecosystem."
For both Ohanian and Thomson, the search for a cure is deeply personal. Thomson’s older brother has lived with T1D since he was 11. And for Ohanian, who lives with T1D himself, "a cure would be, for lack of a better term, life-changing," he said.
Ohanian remembers what life was like before his diagnosis, and those memories of a life less encumbered drive his work with JDCA. “To think about not having to ever worry about those things again, it would eliminate so many stresses.”
Another motivation is the many letters that JDCA receives from families who've lost loved ones to the disease.
"If we could stop those stories,” he said, “that would be more meaningful, I think, than anything for me.”
Thomson describes her older brother's experience with T1D as a significant burden, particularly the daily vigilance it demands. Getting a CGM has helped him with glucose ups and downs, but the worry and risk remain.
Thomson recognizes how much today's technology has changed what living with type 1 diabetes can look like. Devices such as CGMs and automated insulin delivery systems can help with management for many with T1D.
Access to those technologies, however, isn't evenly distributed. Closing that gap involves many moving parts, such as expanding education and access while addressing systemic insurance and broader healthcare barriers.
For Thompson, both advances in tech and research for a cure are important. “The technology that we have today helps,” she said. “A cure would truly be life-changing, and that cannot be undervalued.”
By documenting advances in cell therapy, technology, and gene editing, among others, JDCA is showing how the landscape of cure research is evolving.
For people living with T1D and their families, those developments offer reasons for optimism but also show how much work remains.
By balancing hope with accountability, JDCA has dedicated itself to measuring how far the field has come in its search for a “practical cure,” and ensuring that the goal remains a priority.