An Exeter consultant has received a prestigious international award in recognition of his work improving understanding of early type 1 diabetes.

Dr Nick Thomas, Diabetes Consultant at the Royal Devon and Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Exeter, was awarded the 2026 European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Rising Star Symposium and European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD) Rising Star Research Fellowship Programme prize.

He was recognised for his research into adults with early type 1 diabetes. This award supports him studying patient outcomes in adults with islet autoantibodies, early markers of type 1 diabetes that can appear before diagnosis. His research will explore outcomes over 10 years in patients treated without knowing they had these markers.

Dr Thomas will study how often adults without diabetes, who are later found to have early signs of type 1 diabetes in stored samples, go on to develop the condition and need insulin. He will also look at whether basic patient information and genetic tests can help predict who will need insulin soon after diagnosis.

He said:

“I am motivated to turn research on presymptomatic type 1 diabetes into meaningful changes in clinical practice, improving patient care.

This funding will enable me to develop specialist expertise in identifying and managing adults who are autoantibody positive before and at the point of diabetes diagnosis. This group does not always need insulin straight away, and there is currently limited evidence-based guidance to support them.

By addressing this critical gap, this research supports both improved patient care and more precise, personalised treatment decisions. From a career development perspective, this award will help establish my independence as a clinical academic and support my progression towards becoming an international leader in the management of early stage type 1 diabetes in adults.”

Dr Thomas’s outstanding contribution to research led to the first adult in the UK trialling a ground-breaking drug for type 1 diabetes in July 2025. Devon-based dentist and mum of two, Hannah Robinson, discovered during pregnancy that she was in the early stages of developing type 1 diabetes. Taking the drug could mean extending the time before she needs to take regular insulin injections by up to three years. 

Dr Thomas and fellow experts at the Royal Devon and the University of Exeter are leading world-class research including using genetics combined with autoantibody testing to spot individuals at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The research is supported by the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility, NIHR Exeter Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Sustainable Innovation. 

This work supports the NHS long term goal of helping people to live longer, healthier lives by treating illness early on, and finding new ways to prevent and treat diseases.

Visit our research and development pages to learn more.

More about the award

The EASD Rising Star Symposium and EFSD Rising Star Research Fellowship Programme aims to identify promising and innovative young researchers who are developing their research activities in Europe. Selected candidates will have the opportunity to present an overview of their past and ongoing research activities during a research symposium at the EASD Annual Meeting in Milan. Furthermore, the award includes a research fellowship to support innovative research in the field of diabetes.

The programme is supported by Novo Nordisk.

More about EASD

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) e.V. is a membership-based non-profit organisation with the mission to promote excellence in diabetes care through research, networking, and education. Its Annual Meeting is one of the largest diabetes conferences in the world, attracting thousands of delegates each year.

EASD is a leader in education for healthcare professionals and develops statements and guidelines that translate the latest research into best practices in diabetes management. The Association publishes Diabetologia, a major monthly international journal with an impact factor of 10.2 (2024), and Metabologia, a peer-reviewed open-access journal.

In 2000, EASD reinforced its commitment to European diabetes research by creating the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD), which has since committed over €130 million to research.

For more information, please visit: www.easd.org

More about type 1 diabetes

Around 4.6 million people in the UK have diabetes, with over 270,000 living with type 1. There is currently no cure, and most individuals need daily insulin to manage blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of complications.

To find out more about diabetes type 1, please visit the NHS website. If you are interested in research that can help identify the risk of developing type 1 diabetes, there are two trials currently open to recruitment offering islet autoantibody testing: the ELSA study for children, and the T1DRA study for adults.