WASHINGTON, D.C., July 1, 2010 — Representatives from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a leader in type 1 diabetes research worldwide, testified this week in two congressional hearings focused on advances in diabetes research and the importance of continued diabetes research funding through the Special Diabetes Program. On Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 9:30am, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), held a hearing on the impact and importance of diabetes research for individuals and communities across the United States. JDRF also testified on Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 10:00am on the state of diabetes research before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a hearing chaired by Health Subcommittee Chairman Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ). These hearings underscore the importance for Congress to renew the Special Diabetes Program, which currently funds $150 million a year in type 1 diabetes research, 35% of the federal investment in type 1 diabetes research.
Robert Goldstein, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs for JDRF, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, and Gary Hall Jr., a 3 time Olympic swimmer with type 1 diabetes, provided testimony on behalf of JDRF at the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing. Joining Dr. Goldstein and Mr. Hall was Judith Fradkin, M.D. of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health, as well as representatives from the Centers for Disease Control, American Diabetes Association and the National Indian Health Board.
“Research offers the best hope for a cure for type 1 diabetes and has yielded new and improved therapies and treatments that now give people with type 1 greater quality of life and longer life expectancy,” stated Dr. Goldstein. “The Special Diabetes Program is a key contributor to the advancements we’ve seen in diabetes research and has dedicated funding for the innovative and collaborative multi-center human clinical trials that are helping to test better therapies and treatments for people with type 1. A timely renewal of the program is critical to continue these clinical trials and maximize the research opportunities that will bring us even closer to a cure for type 1 diabetes.”
The Special Diabetes Program was created in 1997 and has been renewed by Congress four times. Currently funded through fiscal year 2011, the program consists of two parts – research funding for type 1 diabetes and education, prevention, and treatment programs for Native American populations with type 2 diabetes. Bi-partisan leaders in Congress have introduced S. 3058 and H.R. 3668, legislation to renew the Special Diabetes Program through fiscal year 2016. The legislation to renew the program has achieved broad, bi-partisan support, with 60 co-sponsors in the Senate and 281 co-sponsors in the House.
“Thanks to the Special Diabetes Program, research has moved from the lab to human clinical trials that are identifying those at high risk for type 1 diabetes and testing therapies to prevent the onset of the disease and slow its progression,” said Mr. Hall. “This program is drastically changing – if not saving – the lives of countless people with diabetes. Its renewal will bring us one step farther along on our path to a cure for this devastating disease.”
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that can occur at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed in childhood, adolescence or young adulthood; as many as 3 million Americans live with type 1 diabetes. The disease requires multiple insulin injections daily just to survive, is difficult to manage, carries the constant threat of devastating complications including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, and amputation, and usually results in a drastic reduction in quality of life and shortening of the average life span. More than 24 million American have diabetes, which costs the U.S. economy $174 billion annually in direct and indirect medical costs, with costs associated with the disease projected to triple in the next 25 years.
Read the testimony of Gary Hall >>
Read the testimony of Robert A. Goldstein, M.D., PH.D.
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