Online Sign-Up for TrialNet

TrialNet is bringing their services online, making it easier for people to be screened for type 1 diabetes. Family members of those with type 1 diabetes can answer an online survey at www.diabetestrialnet.org and, based on their responses, will receive a packet with testing materials. The family members can bring these testing materials to their local lab and have their blood drawn for the screening. If their results show antibodies that increase the risk for developing type 1 diabetes, the family members will be invited to participate in one of TrialNet’s many prevention or cure studies. The online screen opens up access to people who have not been able to enroll in the past, either because they lived far from a screening center or because they could not attend a screening event.

If the test results show a significant risk of developing type 1 diabetes, TrialNet will monitor and continue to assess that risk. After the first round of tests, volunteers can elect to be retested at six or 12-month intervals. They also receive A1c and oral glucose tolerance tests, depending on their likelihood of developing type 1 diabetes in the future.

For background, TrialNet is a large screening program that aims to connect researchers with participants at risk for or who have type 1 diabetes. There are 18 clinical research centers in the US, Canada, Finland, UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. The researchers study methods to prevent, delay, and cure type 1 diabetes. Researchers from TrialNet are currently studying oral insulin to prevent type 1 diabetes and anti-CD3 medication to stop or slow the destruction of beta cells, among other potential cure therapies. For more on these therapies, please see our book, Targeting a Cure for Type 1 Diabetes: How Long Will We Have to Wait?–MN