Dana Ball is the Executive Director and Co-founder of T1D Exchange and CEO of Unitio, Inc. Dana Ball has been a patient advocate for 30 years, spending more than a decade as a nonprofit executive driving innovative programs in type 1 diabetes (T1D). As executive director of T1D Exchange, Dana has built an organization that fulfills his vision for a centralized, patient-centric resource that drives faster, more informed research. In just 5 years, he has established T1D Exchange as a widely recognized, highly credible resource in the T1D medical and research community globally. As the first program of Unitio, Inc., T1D Exchange has proven to accelerate research and improve outcomes in type 1. As CEO of Unitio, Dana is helping other disease groups apply this innovative research model. The model unites researchers, clinicians, industry, advocacy and patients battling disease to facilitate discoveries, accelerate treatments and lead to improved outcomes.
Before becoming CEO and Founder of Unitio and Executive Director of T1D Exchange, Dana served as Program Director for the T1D program at The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, where he co-founded the Exchange. He also developed long-term strategies and initiatives that funded novel approaches in T1D research, technology, systems, and outreach. Previous to that, Dana served as Executive Director of the Iacocca Foundation, overseeing all aspects of the family’s philanthropic activities including development of a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign to advance the field of beta cell regeneration. Programs at The Iacocca Foundation included initiatives supporting research and development to advance understanding of T1D in humans and support new clinical interventions.