We're Not Managing Diabetes. We're Curing It.
20% of every dollar of profit Chubrun makes funds diabetes research aimed at an actual cure — not another lifetime of test strips.
Why we're doing this
Diabetes touches almost every family we know — ours included. We're tired of watching people manage a disease for decades when the real goal should be beating it. So we built the commitment straight into how Chubrun runs: every hoodie, every pair of shorts, every good-time good you buy moves real money toward a cure.
Where the money goes right now
- Diabetes research broadly — the labs, trials, and studies chasing a cure, not another way to manage symptoms
- Priority to research aimed at Type 1 reversal and functional cures, since Type 1 currently has no path to prevention
- Zero middlemen skimming for "awareness." Funding for the people doing the actual work
Where it goes as we grow
- We're not interested in spreading a big fund thin
- If it gets large enough, we'd rather put serious money directly behind specific doctors and researchers closest to a real breakthrough
- We'll share exactly where the money goes as the fund grows, so you always know your purchase is doing what we say it's doing
Not managed. Cured.
The Diabetes FAQ
Real numbers, no fluff. Here's what diabetes actually is, who it affects, and how close science actually is to ending it.
The Basics
How many people actually have diabetes?
About 40.1 million Americans — 12% of the population — are living with diabetes, diagnosed or not. Of those, 29.1 million have been diagnosed, and roughly 11 million people (about 27.6% of everyone with diabetes) don't know they have it yet.
Source: CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2023 data
What is prediabetes, and how common is it?
Prediabetes means blood sugar is higher than normal but not yet high enough to be Type 2 diabetes. It's reversible for a lot of people through diet and exercise — but most people don't know they have it. An estimated 115.2 million U.S. adults have it, including 52% of adults 65 and older.
Source: CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2023 data
What does diabetes actually cost, beyond the human toll?
In 2022, diagnosed diabetes cost the U.S. an estimated $412.9 billion — $306.6 billion in direct medical costs and $106.3 billion in lost work and productivity. People with diabetes spend about 2.6 times more on medical care than people without it.
Source: American Diabetes Association
Type 1 vs. Type 2
What's the actual difference between Type 1 and Type 2?
Type 1 is autoimmune — the immune system attacks and destroys the body's own insulin-producing cells, usually for genetic and environmental reasons no one fully controls. Type 2 is different: the body still makes insulin but can't use it properly, and it's linked to genetics, aging, and lifestyle factors like activity level.
Type 2 makes up 90–95% of all diabetes cases. Type 1 is about 5%.
Source: Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF)
Can Type 1 diabetes be prevented?
No — not currently. It's an autoimmune condition, not a lifestyle outcome, and there's no known way to stop the immune system from attacking those insulin-producing cells once the process starts. That's exactly why it needs a cure, not just better management.
Source: Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF)
Can Type 2 diabetes be prevented?
For a lot of people, yes — or at least delayed. Diet, exercise, and weight management can prevent or push back Type 2 in many at-risk people, especially those caught at the prediabetes stage. It's not guaranteed for everyone, since genetics play a role too, but lifestyle change moves the needle here in a way it doesn't for Type 1.
Source: Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF)
How many people have Type 1, specifically?
About 2.1 million Americans have diagnosed Type 1 diabetes — 1.8 million adults and roughly 314,000 kids and teens under 20. Around 21,700 new cases are diagnosed in youth every year.
Source: American Diabetes Association
The Path to a Cure
Is there a cure for diabetes right now?
Not yet, for either type — but Type 1 research has real momentum. The honest answer is that today's best tools (insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors, artificial pancreas systems) are excellent management, not a cure. A cure means the body makes and regulates its own insulin again without lifelong medication. That's what the research dollars behind this page are aimed at.
What's the most promising research happening right now?
Stem-cell-derived islet cell therapy. Scientists can now grow insulin-producing cells in a lab and transplant them into a patient. In one 2024–2025 clinical trial (FORWARD, testing therapy VX-880), all 12 participants saw major results: severe low-blood-sugar events were eliminated, and 10 of 12 no longer needed injectable insulin at all.
Source: American Diabetes Association; Diatribe coverage of the FORWARD trial
So why isn't that already "the cure"?
One big obstacle: everyone in that trial still has to take immune-suppressing drugs for life, so their body doesn't reject the transplanted cells — trading one lifelong treatment for another. The next wave of research is genetically engineering those transplanted cells to hide from the immune system entirely, which could remove the need for immunosuppression. That version is still in early animal testing, not yet in humans.
Source: American Diabetes Association
What is Chubrun actually doing about it?
Funding it. 20% of Chubrun's profit — not revenue, profit — goes toward diabetes research every quarter, prioritized toward work chasing an actual cure rather than another way to manage symptoms. As that fund grows, we intend to put real weight behind the specific labs and researchers closest to finishing the job, like the stem-cell and islet-therapy work above.
Every Purchase Funds This
You don't have to donate separately or do anything different. Buy the gear you were already going to buy — 20% of the profit goes to work.
Shop the CollectionNot Managed. Cured.
Sources: CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report · American Diabetes Association · Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) · Diatribe coverage of the FORWARD (VX-880) clinical trial. Figures reflect the most recent published data as of 2026 and will be updated as new data is released.