JDRF T1D Fund

Managing Directors Katie Ellias and Sean Doherty lead the fund's investment activities. Ellias brings experience from venture investing and healthcare banking, while Doherty's background spans biotech operations and venture capital. The investment committee includes JDRF leadership and external scientific advisors who evaluate the T1D relevance and clinical viability of each opportunity.

The T1D Fund operates as a for-profit venture philanthropy vehicle, unlike JDRF's core 501(c)(3) grant-making arm. It takes equity positions in private companies with the explicit goal of generating returns that recycle back into the mission. This structure allows the fund to use market incentives to attract co-investors and management talent that a pure grant model cannot access.

The fund targets seed through Series B rounds, occasionally participating in later-stage syndicates for portfolio companies advancing toward regulatory milestones. The focus is on the translational gap between academic proof-of-concept and the larger clinical trials that attract traditional biotech venture funds. Average initial check sizes have ranged from $500,000 to $5 million based on public disclosures.

No. While beta-cell replacement and immunomodulation therapies form a core part of the portfolio, the fund also invests in medical devices — particularly next-generation continuous glucose monitors and insulin delivery systems — and digital health platforms that improve T1D management. Diagnostics for early detection and disease staging are an additional focus area.

The fund's primary sourcing advantage comes through JDRF's deep integration with the T1D research ecosystem — including academic medical centers, patient registries, and the network of scientists funded through JDRF grants. This provides early visibility into promising science years before it appears on the radar of generalist biotech investors. The fund also maintains relationships with major university tech transfer offices and disease-focused foundations globally.

Yes, syndication is central to the model. The fund typically invests alongside traditional healthcare venture firms and corporate venture arms from pharmaceutical companies active in diabetes. By participating in these syndicates, the fund leverages larger pools of capital while steering attention toward T1D-specific science that might otherwise go unfunded. Co-investors have included RA Capital Management, The Column Group, and other sector-specialist firms.

The T1D Fund is structured so that returns from successful investments are reinvested into the fund's capital base to support new investments, rather than being distributed to external limited partners. This structure was designed explicitly to create a self-sustaining source of T1D-focused capital that does not depend on continued fundraising cycles from JDRF's donor base.