Professor Thomas Kay is a world-renowned immunologist and Director of the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. His internationally recognised work spans different areas of research to cure T1D from trying to delay and ultimately prevent its onset through to helping people with T1D make their own insulin again with islet transplants.
Professor Kay was presented with the Luminary Award at the Immunology of Diabetes Society (IDS) 2026 congress by Dr Dorota Pawlak, Chief Scientific Officer at Breakthrough T1D Australia.
Dr Dorota Pawlak said:
This recognition honours Professor Kay’s immense contribution towards groundbreaking research into advanced treatments for type 1 diabetes. His dedication and unwavering commitment to improving the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes changed the islet transplantation landscape in Australia, drove immense progress in diabetes immunology and placed Australia as a global leader in T1D clinical trials. The award honours Professor Kay’s vision and exceptional leadership among national and international peers and experts, and we could not think of a more deserving person to receive it.
Accelerating treatments for T1D
Professor Kay co-leads the Australasian Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Collaborative (ATIC), a network funded by Breakthrough T1D to deliver clinical trials of disease-modifying therapies to delay or prevent T1D. Under Professor Kay’s leadership, ATIC is now a well-established and connected clinical trials platform connecting the T1D community, pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals, to bring new treatments to people living with T1D.
The BANDIT trial
One of the highlights of Professor Kay’s successful career in T1D research was leading the BANDIT trial, the world’s first clinical trial of baricitinib. Conducted through ATIC, results from the BANDIT trial in 2023 showed that baricitinib can safely and effectively preserve the body’s own insulin production and slow the progression of T1D in people newly diagnosed.
Further clinical trials of baricitinib are now being run by Eli Lilly to move the drug further down the research pipeline and closer to people who can benefit from it. This is only possible thanks to Professor Kay’s dedication to understanding how T1D develops and his commitment to finding new treatments.
In the words of Professor Phillip O’Connell, who collaborated on the BANDIT trial:
It is very rare for an investigator to undertake fundamental biological research into the pathogenesis of a disease, to propose a new clinical intervention based on their discoveries and go on to undertake a successful clinical trial. Tom’s contribution is ultimately based on his long-held understanding that T1D is fundamentally an autoimmune disease and needs to be treated as such.
Islet transplants
Professor Kay also leads a Melbourne-wide islet transplant program that has been giving people with T1D insulin-making cells from organ donors since 2006. This procedure gives people who are hypo unaware and struggling to manage their T1D the ability to make insulin again, but they need to powerful drugs to suppress their immune system. Professor Kay’s team are working hard to build up a detailed knowledge of how islets are destroyed to help develop more effective ways to protect transplanted islets that come with less severe side effects. This would make islet transplants accessible to more people with T1D.
Professor Leonard Harrison, internationally respected T1D researcher, mentor and a close friend and colleague of Professor Kay’s, said:
Tom’s remarkable achievements as an exemplary clinician-scientist include a founding role in the national islet transplant program and developing strategies to prevent beta cell destruction that are now translatable. He is talented at recognising how ‘cutting-edge’ techniques can be applied to answer clinically relevant questions and identifying excellent staff and collaborators to carry out research. Tom’s only failing, if you can call it that, is that he is good at everything. He is the best of ‘all-rounders’ in the game. There is no one more deserving of a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Breakthrough T1D funds Professor Kay’s researchÂ
Breakthrough T1D has been supporting Professor Kay’s work since 1998, when he received one of the earliest Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) Career Development Awards. His current Breakthrough T1D-funded project takes inspiration from cancer research to develop a short-term treatment that targets just the immune cells that go rogue in T1D to delay or even stop the condition progressing. We’re excited to see what new breakthroughs Professor Kay’s world-leading research brings for people with T1D.
