BOSTON, MA (January 21, 2025) – Boston Children’s Hospital and the Lillylulu Foundation have announced a multiyear partnership to establish the new T1D Clinical Innovation Fund at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) with a generous gift of $550,000 from Lillylulu. The T1D Clinical Innovation Fund builds on a successful type one diabetes (T1D) program launched by BCH in 2023 with a gift of $250,000 from Lillylulu.

T1D is an autoimmune disease affecting 2 million Americans, more than half of whom are diagnosed as children. T1D destroys the body’s ability to produce insulin naturally in the pancreas. Patients living with T1D rely on 24/7 infusions or injections of insulin and navigate constant balancing of blood sugar and insulin levels, which impact – and are impacted by – every aspect of daily life. Normal medical appointments can only do so much, as patients and families affected by T1D are largely left on their own to manage this complicated disease.

The T1D Clinical Innovation Fund at Boston Children’s Hospital aims to give patients and families the extra moral and practical support they need to live healthy and productive lives with T1D. Led by Boston Children’s Diabetes Program Director Kate Garvey, MD, MPH, and Gretchen Waldman, MSN, RN, CDCES, the Clinical Innovation Fund identifies families served by BCH who need help with T1D beyond normal clinical visits. The program will be led by a BCH Senior Diabetes Nurse Educator, who with the support of two dedicated Diabetes Resource Nurses will proactively reach out to high-risk families and provide patients and their families with access to and education on T1D care and technology. Just as importantly, the T1D Clinical Innovation Fund will give families a mentor and resource that augments traditional medical appointments, serving to dramatically close the gap in healthoutcomes among families with different resources.

This new T1D care program follows a successful trial program with support of Lillylulu that has collectively served over 2,300 families. The new Lillylulu gift, through the establishment of the T1D Clinical Innovation Fund, will enable the program to continue supporting these families and further impact this critical patient population. Dr. Kate Garvey states, “The incredible and continued support from the Lillylulu Foundation is changing and dramatically enhancing our program and care for our patient families. This additional gift will add needed resources required for improved outcomes through basic care, support, consultation as well as prepare our team to integrate new therapies that emerge and keep health care disparities at the top of mind. I am profoundly grateful for their support, and very excited to work together as we are changing the narrative on basic care and diabetes management.”

Co-Founder and Director of Lillylulu, Lilly Lashar (22), states, “As a patient of Boston Children’s Hospital, even with the greatest care available in the world, having T1D is still a struggle every day as it does not stop or turn off. I have had access to elite care and technology, and it is important to me that we as a Foundation and a T1D community do everything we can to expand access of both care and the latest technology to everyone living with this difficult disease. This expanded collaboration and partnership is achieving greater access and equity in this space.”

Co-Founder and President of Lillylulu, John Lashar, attributes this dramatically expanded partnership with the Boston Children’s Diabetes Program to the many private donations made to the Lillylulu Foundation and the successful partnership with The Monomoy Shootout, Fishing for a Cure event (www.monomoyshootout.com) held this past August 2024 in Chatham, MA which raised over $750,000. Mr. Lashar said, “The generosity and passion of so many people and corporations have allowed for a dramatic and direct impact to address basic T1D care and the issues of living with this chronic disease. We are harnessing the goodness of people, the desire to make a direct impact. Unfortunately, too many in the T1D population do not get the support they need for basic care of the disease, which is relentless hour by hour and day by day. Our aim is to change this and with our expanded partnership with the Boston Children’s Hospital T1D Program, we believe we are.”

Boston Children’s Hospital and the Lillylulu Foundation are hoping to attract more generous families, donors and additional capital interested in making direct and unique impact through the T1D Clinical Innovation Fund. If you are interested in learning more please contact Amanda Gilbride at Boston Children’s Hospital Trust at Amanda.gilbride@chtrust.org

The program was designed with the input of Sean Doherty, the founder and former Chair of the T1D Fund and the current president of T1D Action, an organization devoted to better care for people living with T1D.

About Boston Children’s Hospital: Boston Children's Hospital is ranked the #1 pediatric hospital in the world by Newsweek. It is also home to the world's largest pediatric research enterprise, and it is the leading recipient of pediatric research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The Boston Children’s Hospital Diabetes Program –
top ranked Pediatric Diabetes Program by U.S. News & World Report, takes a multidisciplinary, team-based approach to managing type 1 diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults. The program is one of the largest pediatric diabetes centers in the North America and follows over 2,500 patients and families.

About the Lillylulu Foundation, Inc.: The Lillylulu Foundation, Inc. (www.lillylulufoundation.org) is a 100% volunteer based 501c3 organization that has been created to harness the generosity and focus of T1D donors and influencers to have an efficient, meaningful and direct impact on the T1D community. The impact we strive for is to be a contributor to address systematic deficiencies in care (physical and mental) by improving outcomes for those diagnosed with T1D. As parents and friends of T1D’s, our mission is rooted in providing direct gifts in focused on impactful and actionable outcomes. We seek partners and organizations with innovative ideas and those areas that we believe are underfunded within our foundation’s focus to create relationships that allow us to drive influence and positive outcomes for our T1D community. Making as great an impact as possible is at the core of why the Lillylulu Foundation has been created by the family of a T1D young lady named Lilly.