Research Funding Opportunities (Topic RFAs)

RFA: Establishing Immune Tolerance in Islet Cell Replacement Therapy

Funds type 1 diabetes research to improve immune tolerance pathways for safer islet-based replacement approaches.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

Breakthrough T1D — the former JDRF, rebranded in June 2024 — issued this FY26 Request for Applications to solicit focused research on one of the primary barriers to widespread islet cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes: the dependence on chronic systemic immunosuppression. The RFA titled "Establishing Immune Tolerance in Islet Cell Replacement Therapy" targets investigators developing immunological strategies that could reduce or eliminate systemic immunosuppression requirements for transplanted islet cells, a critical gap in the cell therapy pipeline. Breakthrough T1D's research strategy identifies cell therapies — specifically beta cell replacement products demonstrating sustained reduction in insulin requirements — as a high-priority investment area.

The LOI deadline for this RFA was January 7, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET. A pre-application informational webinar was held December 16, 2025. Eligible applicants include academic institutions, research organizations, and nonprofits with research capacity; for-profit entities and individual applicants are not eligible under this solicitation. Full RFA terms, award amounts, and full-application deadlines for invited applicants are contained in the call document available at the Breakthrough T1D website. All submissions for this solicitation flow through the portal at breakthrought1d.smartsimple.us.

This RFA reflects Breakthrough T1D's strategy of co-investing with investigators through topic-specific solicitations that address defined scientific bottlenecks, as distinct from its investigator-initiated Strategic Research Agreement program. Applicants who submitted LOIs and received invitations to the full-application stage would be working cooperatively with Breakthrough T1D scientists. The immune tolerance challenge spans local immunoprotection, encapsulation approaches, and systemic tolerance induction — all of which fall within the scope of this call as defined in the RFA PDF.