It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor Helen Thomas, an outstanding medical researcher whose work in type 1 diabetes made a significant impact. Helen founded Effica Biolabs, a St Vincent’s Institute service offering pre-clinical testing of new therapies for type 1 diabetes, as well as leading the preclinical activities of ATIC alongside sister Ranjeny Thomas.
In a world-first, ATIC researchers lead by Professor’s Thomas Kay and Helen Thomas have shown that baricitinib, an immunotherapy treatment commonly used in rheumatoid arthritis, can delay the progression of type 1 diabetes and preserve the body’s ability to make its own insulin.
October 2024
Seminar 20, Beyond Insulin Seminar Series – A/Prof Joshua Ooi presents ‘Antigen-specific Tregs to treat autoimmune diseases’.
August 2024
The ATIC community engagement panel and steering committee have supported the preparation of a position statement on the use of off-label baricitnib.
August 2024
Seminar 19, Beyond Insulin Seminar Series – A/Prof John Wentworth presents ‘Development and deployment of agglutination-PCR testing for islet autoantibodies’.
July 2024
A group of ATIC clinician-researchers with support from JDRFA have published the Australian guidelines “Care pathways for people with early-stage type 1 diabetes in Australia”.