The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at Forty: Updates of Research in Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

Forty years ago, a small group of families founded an organization that has become known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a group dedicated to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications through the support of research. JDRF implemented what at the time represented a distinctive paradigm: the involvement of lay volunteers in decisions regarding research funding, in developing and implementing policies pertaining to research directions, and in providing public advocacy for people with type 1 diabetes. This organizational format was generationally bold and provided a clear signal that JDRF's volunteers desired to partner with the scientific community and with all who shared their common agenda of helping individuals with type 1 diabetes. Over the years, JDRF has partnered with a diverse array of organizations with shared purpose, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), various international funding organizations (e.g., European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Wellcome Trust, Australia National Health and Medical Research Council, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Singapore A*STAR), and other foundations, most notably, the American Diabetes Association (ADA). In 2010, the 40th anniversary of JDRF's founding, it seems propitious to provide an update relaying the progress this “community of the caring” has achieved in helping those with type 1 diabetes, and to call for a renewed purpose-driven dialogue among the many partners seeking to find a cure for this disease. To this end, JDRF is pleased to partner with Diabetes on a series of “Perspectives in Diabetes” articles that will inform and update readers on the current state of research progress in type 1 diabetes and its complications as well as provide guidance for the direction of future research efforts on this disease. The series of articles …