JDRF and Children Testify for Continued Type 1 Diabetes Research Funding
On July 10, the JDRF and 161 delegates for the Children’s Congress traveled to Capitol Hill inWashington, D.C. to call for support of type 1 diabetes research funding. The delegates specifically urged their members of Congress to sign letters to leadership that recognize the important contributions of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), which is the source of roughly one third of federal investment in type 1 diabetes research in the US. The SDP must be renewed this year to ensure that promising clinical trials can continue without interruption.
The delegates joined JDRF’s president and CEO, Jeffrey Brewer, Dr. Griffin Rodgers of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), Ray Allen of the Miami Heat, and actress Jean Smart of Hawaii Five-O at a hearing before the Senate. The hearing provided an opportunity to highlight advances in type 1 diabetes research as well as future cost savings that could result from investment in diabetes research. Several attendees provided moving testimony on their experiences either living with type 1 or caring for a person with diabetes. As 14-year old Quinn Ferguson said so eloquently in his testimony: “Voices have been silenced and lives cut short because of this disease. I am here today to speak for them as well as speak for myself.”
We salute the JDRF for working so hard on behalf of all people with type 1 to garner these funds for research towards a cure. The letters in the House and Senate are still open for members of Congress to add their names. To date, a bipartisan group of 138 Representatives and 52 Senators have signed on. You can help by clicking here to share your story with your legislators and urge them to show their support for the SDP. -NL
