In 1979, Dr. Robert Sherwin and Dr. William Tamborlane from Yale University announced they had developed an insulin pump to treat Type 1 diabetes. The insulin pump was first tested in seven children with diabetes and the results were spectacular.

The doctors stayed overnight in the hospital to monitor the results. When they began to see that blood sugar levels remained stable in their young patients, they knew that they had hit upon a novel and effective treatment for diabetes.

The insulin pump, which today has evolved into a device the size of a beeper, continues to gain momentum; 350,000 diabetic patients per year using it and its popularity continues to grow. Without volunteers like the children and their families who were willing to take a chance on an exciting new treatment, this groundbreaking discovery would not have been possible.