#JDRFac2012 is a blog series to prepare JDRF’s ‘All For 1’ Annual Conference attendees for their time on Capitol Hill, and to educate you as readers on why JDRFers will be on the Hill on your behalf and how you can help.

In June, JDRF’s chapter staff and volunteer leaders will converge on Washington, D.C. in part to meet with their legislators regarding the need to renew the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), a key federal program that accounts for 35% ($150 million) of the type 1 diabetes research portfolio at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).   JDRF and NIH have one of the world’s most effective public-private partnerships focused on curing a disease.  In fact, JDRF provided $116 million in FY 2011 for T1D research to complement the federally-supported research.  However, if the SDP is not renewed, key SDP-supported trials will be disrupted or halted completely and JDRF will not be able to fill the gap.

We need your continued help this year to ensure that we capitalize on the investments to date and achieve our mutual goal of better treatments and a cure for people with diabetes. Follow along in this blog series as I share bite size pieces of information that will allow of us to become better informed advocates for advancing T1D research. For starters, check out the graphic below:

Hasan Shah
JDRF Advocacy