Open letter to JDRF
I received an email from the Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance which included a letter they will be formally presenting to JDRF. While I know JDCA is still compiling signatures, I am so strongly aligned with its message, I felt it imperative to post here.
There is no reason, in my opinion, that anyone could take umbrage with the proposed items in this letter. If you think JDRF is doing a great job now, they’d be doing an even better job if they implemented some of these ideas into their method of operating. My two cents. Please read, And please visit http://thejdca.org/ for more information. By the way, I am NOT affiliated with them. I just appreciate their oversight of JDRF.
The numbers are very disappointing. Only 4% of your dollars donated to ADA go to cure research for T1d, and I can easily point to the issue with JDRF. About the time that they stopped funding cures which could be safe, affordable and efficacious, they disbanded the Lay Review Committee (LRC) which was made up of scientifically minded parents and PWD who had also been generous donors/activists. This was a mistake. The donors used to have the final say.
I also want to point out though that their letter doesn’t mention prevention. I am speaking with JDRF about getting involved in our field study of Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D3. We have IRB approval and have recruited the first 100 subjects already. They may not know about it because it is happening very rapidly. You can enroll if autoantibody positive at D*action Project to Prevent Type 1 Diabetes - GrassrootsHealth, and it came from JDRF friends from the grant review committee, back in the days when they used to have a LRC. You can read about it at www.preventt1d.org