Unitio has announced a three-year, $8.7 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to extend the reach and impact of the T1D Exchange program.

The grant will enable the Boston-based healthcare organization to boost awareness of T1D Exchange, particularly within the scientific community; develop novel programs designed to improve clinical care and translate new therapeutics; and cultivate new funding sources to ensure the program’s sustainability. The grant includes a two-to-one matching component for any gift of at least $1,000, up to a total of $2.5 million.

Originally a program of the Helmsley Trust, T1D Exchange is an integrated, patient-centric research model in which all parties in the development process — patients, researchers, clinicians, and industry — are focused on advancing clinical and translational research. Previously known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. In the United States, more than thirty thousand children and adults are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes each year, while more than three million people live with the illness, which remains incurable.

"Our model is driving faster, more-informed research that will reduce the physical, financial, and psychological burden of living with T1D," said T1D Exchange co-founder and executive director Dana Ball. "Success in the next stage of growth will require adding to our already strong organizational expertise and experience, which this support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust will make possible."