
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is one of twenty-five type 1 diabetes TrialNet International Clinical Centres at the forefront of type 1 diabetes research. Led by Diane Wherrett, MD, the TrialNet team at SickKids is dedicated to preventing type 1 diabetes and stopping disease progression by preserving insulin production before and after diagnosis.
Our Team

Diane Wherrett, MD
Diane received her medical degree at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She trained in Paediatrics and Paediatric Endocrinology at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and did a research fellowship in the immunology of type 1 diabetes at Stanford University. She is currently a Staff Physician in the Division of Endocrinology, Department of Paediatrics, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and Program Director, Paediatric Endocrinology Training Program at The Hospital for Sick Children. She is the Canadian Centre Director for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet.

Lesley Eisel

Roze Kovalakovska

Mary-Jo Ricci
“TrialNet is important to me because it allows families such as mine to play an active role in the fight against type 1 diabetes”--Samantha De Lima, SickKids
Regional Affiliates
“I have been a T1D researcher for over 18 years and I am passionate about TrialNet’s mission to prevent children from getting new onset diabetes.”--Dina Panagiotopolous, MD, University of British Columbia
Research Studies
If you have a relative with T1D, you may be eligible for risk screening that can detect the early stages of T1D years before symptoms appear. More
Depending on your risk screening results, you may be eligible for monitoring. We’ll monitor you for disease progression and let you know if you become eligible for a study. More
TrialNet is testing the drug abatacept to see if it can delay or prevent progression of early stage T1D (stage 1 or stage 2), and ultimately prevent clinical diagnosis (stage 3). In earlier studies for people newly diagnosed (stage 3), abatacept helped slow down disease progression. Details
We are testing the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to see if it can delay or prevent early stage T1D (stage 1) from progressing to abnormal glucose tolerance (stage 2) and ultimately prevent clinical diagnosis (stage 3). HCQ is already used to reduce symptoms and progression of other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. This is the first study to see if it can prevent or delay T1D. Details
If you are diagnosed with T1D while participating in one of our prevention studies, we’re still here for you. You can continue to receive personal monitoring while helping us learn more. More
“I am a TrialNet Coordinator because curing type 1 Diabetes is my retirement plan”--Claire Gougeon, Alberta Children's Hospital