{"id":48592,"date":"2018-02-14T09:55:25","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T14:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=48592"},"modified":"2018-02-14T12:22:36","modified_gmt":"2018-02-14T17:22:36","slug":"behind-the-scenes-with-jdrf-how-the-special-diabetes-program-won-renewal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=48592","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes with JDRF: How The Special Diabetes Program Won Renewal"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was 3 a.m. and the JDRF advocacy staff was wide awake and in the Washington DC office, working the phones, following the action and pacing the floors, awaiting what would be a successful passage of a two year, $300 million renewal of the Special Diabetes Program<\/a>, a cornerstone program that, via the NIH, has funded and continues to fund some of the most important research going on in diabetes care and cure.<\/p>\n

In homes across the nation, those with a passion for a cure and better treatments for diabetes were checking C-Span, scanning social media and crossing some fingers and toes as they awaited what would, just before dawn, be a victory in funding for diabetes research.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an unbelievable relief and victory,\u201d said Cynthia Rice, JDRF\u2019s Senior VP of Advocacy and Policy, of the pre-dawn vote that secured the funding for two more years. \u201cCongress was up all night, and so was our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team is the operative word here, she said, of the success realized in an extremely challenging time to secure project funding on Capitol Hill. The 18-month, sometimes frustrating process came to an excellent conclusion, she said, not just because of her staff and lead volunteers, but because of the tens of thousands of people who care about the Special Diabetes Program, who took action, over and over, across the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had so many families and folks across the country post not just our action alerts, but ones they created themselves,\u201d she said. It was common each day of the months \u2013 and particularly the final weeks and days\u2014coming up to the votes, to see social media shares of families in action living life with Type 1, of children and adults meeting with Senators and Congressmen (with taglines such as \u201cI asked you to promise to remember me. Now is the time,). That swell of grass roots activity – -a JDRF staple \u2013 deserves much of the credit for the success, she said.<\/p>\n

JDRF drew on their long-admired multi pronged approach: using the voices of the diabetes community coupled with public statements from the research community as well as the entertainment industry to present a harmonious voice pushing for renewal.<\/p>\n

While the SDP has been in place since the late 1990\u2019s and has funded over $2 billion in research since that time, the renewal this time around was no sure thing. Challenges included a new administration finding its way in Washington, to similarly funded programs that \u2013 like the SDP \u2013 failed to win renewal in the fall, to two government shut downs in the final weeks working toward approval; those and more made the process tricky, time consuming and at some points for some, worrisome.<\/p>\n

But JDRF, and all of us in the diabetes community, prevailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was particularly difficult for us this time around for reasons that had nothing to do with the program itself,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

In the end, Rice said, credit goes to those advocates in the field, as well as the four key legislators who head up the Diabetes Caucus: Sen. Jeanne\u00a0Shaheen (D-NH), who has a granddaughter with Type 1, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) who has no personal connection to Type 1 but who takes seriously a promise she made to a young boy with Type 1 nearly two decades ago, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who has a daughter with Type 1, and Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) who has a son with Type 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to give them great kudos,\u201d Rice said. The four worked hard for months prior and almost non-stop in the final days to secure the bipartisan support for the renewal from their fellow legislators. \u201cThey were true stalwarts in this effort,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

It was a challenge for them, too, with bills approved in the House, then going to the Senate, then tweaked and going back to the House. \u201cThis was some very tricky legislation,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

JDRF chose to push hard for the two-year renewal, and not to make things easier for them. Multiple year renewals allow researchers to put forth proposals that are more long term. \u00a0Researchers will tell you, in fact, it\u2019s vital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important that this be renewed as a multi year program\u201d said Maggie Morris Fears, PhD, Associate Professor and diabetes researcher at Eastern Virginia Medical School<\/a>. \u201cWe cannot carry out science one year at a time.\u201d Fears, who used social media to rally researchers and friends all over to call out for SDP Support, said that the fact that SDP money helped create the Human Islet Research Network, a key program that creates teamwork in diabetes research, is reason enough alone to celebrate the victory. Of course, there are many more examples, like Trialnet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [researchers] were very anxious about this renewal,\u2019 said Fears. \u201cThis is really good news.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the program\u2019s renewal, the NIH will now begin the process of not just allowing current research to continue, but also requesting proposals for new projects. \u201cWe know there are some really important ones out there in need of funding, so we are quite happy,\u201d said Rice. \u201cThis really does help to continue to attract and keep really good and important research.\u201d<\/p>\n

The approval keeps the program going until September 30, 2019. That means that while all who care can breathe a sigh of relief they must also dig deep and continue the work to renew it once again. First up? Thanking all in Congress, said Rice. JDRF currently has a link<\/a> for all to click and send a simple thank you to Senators and Congressmen for approving the renewal.<\/p>\n

Next up? Getting geared up for the next renewal. But first, Rice said, her team is going to \u201cgrab some sleep\u201d and then begin the next chapter. \u201cThe work is not done until the cure is found.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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