Breakthrough T1D is deeply saddened at the passing of William V. Tamborlane, M.D. Dr. Tamborlane was a tireless champion for the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community, a pioneering clinical scientist, dedicated physician, and longtime Breakthrough T1D partner, grantee, reviewer, advisor, and friend.
“Bill Tamborlane was a giant in our field, and he will be terribly missed,” said Breakthrough T1D CEO Aaron Kowalski, Ph.D. “For more than four decades, Bill pushed the boundaries of what was possible in T1D care—from the earliest insulin pumps to the artificial pancreas systems that have transformed the lives of so many people with T1D, including myself and my brother.”
Dr. Tamborlane was a pioneer in the development of automated insulin delivery. In 1979, with his Yale mentor Robert Sherwin, M.D., he co-authored the landmark study showing that a portable insulin pump could normalize blood glucose in people with type 1 diabetes—the foundation for modern pump therapy. Over the next four decades, he led pioneering work in continuous glucose monitoring, sensor-augmented pumps, closed-loop control algorithms, and the artificial pancreas.
His voice and expertise were pivotal to the Breakthrough T1D Artificial Pancreas Project, and his Yale team conducted some of the earliest closed-loop trials in children and adolescents—populations long underserved by diabetes technology research. He chaired the NICHD-sponsored Diabetes Research in Children Network (DirecNet) and co-chaired the JDRF CGM Study Group, work that established the clinical evidence base for CGM in young people with T1D. He authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed publications across his career.
“He had a remarkable gift for translating laboratory science into therapies that work for real children and real families,” said Breakthrough T1D Chief Scientific Officer Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D. “His refusal to accept that kids should have to wait accelerated the field by years.”
Dr. Tamborlane received many of the highest honors in diabetes research, including the JDRF Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine Excellence in Clinical Research Award, the Diabetes Technology Society Leadership Award, and the American Diabetes Association Award for Achievements in Clinical Diabetes Research. At Yale, he served as Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology for more than three decades, training generations of pediatric endocrinologists who carry his work forward today.
Everyone at Breakthrough T1D will be thinking of Dr. Tamborlane’s family and will always remember the work he did to make life with T1D better for everyone affected by it.
