Professor Helen Thomas is head of the Immunology and Diabetes Unit at St Vincent’s Institute in Melbourne. Her research is focused on prevention of type 1 diabetes. She aims to protect the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas from being destroyed by both the immune system and the stress that diabetes places on these cells. She has developed collaborations with industry to test immune suppressive drugs, in particular JAK inhibitors, in clinical trials for type 1 diabetes. Her work is also being applied to humans through the transplantation of islets isolated from organ donors by the Tom Mandel Islet Transplant Program in Victoria to reverse type 1 diabetes in severe cases.