David De George awarded TJ Martin Medal for type 1 diabetes research

Dr David De George has been awarded the 2026 TJ Martin Medal for outstanding PhD research into type 1 diabetes, presented at a ceremony during St Vincent’s Melbourne Research Week.

The Medal recognises excellence in doctoral research and celebrates David’s important contribution to understanding the immune cells that drive type 1 diabetes.

Completed at SVI under the supervision of the late Professor Helen Thomas, along with Professor Tom Kay and Associate Professors Stuart Mannering and Bala Krishnamurthy, David’s PhD explored a process known as T cell exhaustion. T cells are an important part of the immune system, but in type 1 diabetes, some mistakenly attack the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

While T cell exhaustion has been extensively studied in cancer and chronic infections, much less is known about how it occurs in autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes. This distinction is important because the treatment goals are very different. In cancer, researchers aim to restore exhausted T cells so they can better fight disease. In type 1 diabetes, the goal is to switch off the harmful T cells attacking the pancreas.

Using single-cell RNA sequencing, David analysed the genetic activity of individual immune cells from the pancreas and nearby immune tissues in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes. His research mapped the immune landscape before focusing on the T cells responsible for damaging insulin-producing cells.

David discovered that these cells display an exhaustion profile unlike those seen in cancer or chronic infections, suggesting that autoimmune diseases may require their own tailored treatment approaches rather than relying on strategies developed for other conditions.

David’s work builds on Professor Helen Thomas’ enduring legacy in type 1 diabetes research and reflects her commitment to supporting the next generation of scientists.

Following the completion of his PhD, David has joined the Leuven Diabetes Lab at KU Leuven in Belgium, where he is undertaking postdoctoral research under the supervision of Professor Chantal Mathieu. There, he will continue investigating the immune mechanisms underlying type 1 diabetes and advancing research towards more precise treatments for the disease.

The TJ Martin Medal is named in honour of Professor Jack Martin AO FRS, the former Director of SVI (1988 – 2002) and Professor of Medicine at SVHM (1987 – 1998), with the Medal awarded annually for the best PhD or MD thesis on the St Vincent’s campus.