Tom Kay is Director of St. Vincent’s Institute and President of the Immunology of Diabetes Society. He is Chief Investigator on an NHMRC Program Grant, “Pathogenesis-based Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes”. As an endocrinologist and clinical immunologist he leads the Victorian node of the Australian Islet Transplant Consortium. Contributions include the role of CD8+ T cells and cytokines in the death of pancreatic beta cells and characterization of T cells in type 1 diabetes. These are relevant to developing new treatments for diabetes that could replace the need for insulin injections by restoring endogenous insulin and by correction of autoimmunity.