Mott Building

University of Michigan

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1500 E. Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States

Led by Inas Thomas, MD, the TrialNet team at University of Michigan is dedicated to preventing type 1 diabetes and stopping disease progression by preserving insulin production before and after diagnosis.

Note: As a TrialNet affiliate, University of Michigan is regionally overseen by Indiana University - Riley Hospital for Children. If you reach out to TrialNet, you may be contacted by staff from either institution. 

Our Team

Inas Thomas, MD

Principal Investigator

Dr. Inas Thomas graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2003. She did her pediatric residency followed by a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at the University of Michigan. She joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2009 where she is the Medical Director for the Pediatric Diabetes Program and is involved in several institution-wide initiatives to improve diabetes care at Michigan Medicine. Dr. Thomas also became the Director for Division of Pediatric Endocrinology in August 2022. Dr. Thomas serves as the Associate Director for Pediatric Clinical Research and Diabetes Program with the Caswell Diabetes Institute, supporting the overarching mission to support rigorous science and its integration with patient-centered clinical care. She continues as the Principal Investigator for TrialNet and new onset diabetes studies at the University of Michigan.

Sheree Nicholson, BA

Clinical Research Coordinator

Research Studies

Risk Screening
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.
Monitoring
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.
Prevention Study
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.
Prevention Study
TrialNet tested the drug abatacept to see if it could delay or prevent stage 1 T1D (two or more diabetes-related autoantibodies, but normal blood sugar) from progressing to stage 2 (abnormal blood sugar) or to stage 3 (clinical diagnosis). In an earlier study in people newly diagnosed (stage 3), participants treated with abatacept had 59% better insulin production and a 9.6-month average delay in progression of insulin loss compared to those who received placebo. That difference extended out to 3 years.
Long Term
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.