This year, DAC awarded the Catalyst for Change Award to three deserving patient partners. The award honours those who have made an extraordinary contribution to patient partnership in research.

Kate Farnsworth, a DAC patient partner since the organization’s inception, was one of the recipients. The mother of a daughter with type 1 diabetes (T1D), Kate has been a champion for improved technologies to manage T1D for years. She has been a leader in the DIY looping community and an advocate for the #WeAreNotWaiting philosophy. With DAC, she has been a project lead in the Innovations in Type 1 Diabetes program and a project lead on the Connect1d Canada project.

Nominated by DAC’s Executive Director, Tracy McQuire, Kate is a wonderful example of how “loved experience” can make in incredible impact.  “Kate was one of the first patient partners I met when I joined DAC in 2017. I was tasked with building the Innovations in T1D Program and Kate was suggested to me as a potential Patient Partner by Bruce Perkins,” says McQuire. “At the time, Kate was already deeply involved in supporting families interested in DIY looping for automated insulin delivery. Her efforts were really the beginning of my understanding of the knowledge mobilization journey, and simplifying complex concepts to make them accessible to those in need. This same forward-thinking approach defines Kate’s contributions within DAC. She consistently emphasizes the importance of effective communication with the community, guiding our teams toward improved engagement strategies. Kate’s influence extends to project design; she played a pivotal role in co-designing Connect1d Canada and co-created the  content of our homepage. Beyond her project involvement, Kate has represented DAC as an ambassador at international conferences and served as a community representative in various organizational settings, including our Steering Council. For me, and many others fortunate enough to collaborate with her, Kate’s transformative impact within the Network is unmistakable. Her dedication and innovative thinking have not only shaped my leadership journey but have also enriched the experiences of all who have had the privilege of working alongside her.”

Winning this award is meaningful to Kate for many reasons, not least of which is her passion for patient partnership in research. “The voice of people with lived experience is critical. I think that no discussions about living with health conditions should take place without those who are affected by it. While I don’t live with diabetes myself, my daughter does. She doesn’t want to speak up for herself, so I tend to do so. There’s nothing that compares to lived experience, and people living with diabetes and their caregivers should have a seat at every table, and be involved in every discussion to ensure that the solutions and research that are being developed are the right ones at the right time and are meeting their needs.”

She will continue to be involved in patient-oriented research, and is so proud to have been chosen for this award.  “This was a very kind recognition of the time and work I’ve done with DAC,” she says. “I feel very grateful to be up there with the other, phenomenal recipients. And I feel inspired to keep pushing forward and doing good work with DAC.”