We have been hearing a lot about the Artificial Pancreas project lately in the diabetes news and I have to say when I read in the latest issue of Discovery, the JDRF's quarterly magazine that it had been tested in a non-hospital setting with good results I got very excited.

If you are at all interested or even just want to know a bit more about what kind of research is going on in the world that might make like with diabetes easier then this is the event for you.

Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance (DIRA) in association with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) presents:

Type 1 Diabetes Research Development Meeting

Global Type 1 diabetes research is moving at such a pace that it is bringing renewed optimism of finding a cure to families living with Type 1 diabetes. Recent advances in the areas such as the artificial pancreas and stem cell research give cause for such optimism.

DIRA, which is a subsidiary group of Diabetes Ireland, is inviting the public to come along to a Type 1 Diabetes Research Development meeting in The Greenhills Hotel, Limerick on Tuesday 27th March at 7:30pm and hear from the experts on the latest cutting edge Type1 diabetes research and how to help find the cure.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease and tends to occur in childhood or early adult life. It always requires treatment with insulin therapy. It is caused by the body’s own immune system destroying the insulin-making cells (beta-cells) of the pancreas. It is not caused by lifestyle choices and cannot be prevented or cured. There are approximately 300 children and adults with type 1 diabetes living in Co. Clare.

Cambridge University Researcher, Janet Allen, who is working on the Artificial Pancreas Project, will be among the speakers. The Artificial Pancreas project focuses on developing an artificial pancreas system which hopes to solve one particular aspect of living with type 1 diabetes – controlling glucose levels overnight. The team at Cambridge are developing a system that would be able to take over managing insulin delivery at bedtime and will keep the glucose levels in check until the patient wakes up in the morning. They are also working towards getting a system ready for families to test out at home.

Research communication officer with JDRF, Maebh Kelly, will give an update on “cutting edge” research developments in diabetes and in particular the Diabetes - Genes, Autoimmunity and Prevention (D-GAP) project. This project is trying to identify and understand how and why Type 1 diabetes. If they can confirm this link, this research will pave the way for further developments aimed at preventing or reversing type 1 diabetes.

We will also hear from Emma Warrington, a parent of a child with diabetes on why she and her family got involved with the D-GAP project.