JDRF

JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. T1D is an autoimmune disease that strikes both children and adults. Unrelated to diet or lifestyle, T1D causes lifelong dependence on injected or pumped insulin and carries the constant danger of life-threatening complications. It requires intensive, 24/7 management. Nobody can predict who will get T1D or prevent it. At present, there is no cure.

Parents founded JDRF in 1970 to help their children with T1D by funding research to find a cure for this poorly understood and often deadly disease. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF has grown to become the largest non-governmental funder of T1D research. JDRF has awarded more than $1.7 billion to diabetes research since our founding.

Our goal is simple: we want to create a world without T1D. JDRF is the only global organization with a strategic plan to bring a continuous stream of life-changing therapies, and ultimately, a cure for T1D. This plan is aggressive, forward-looking, and realistic:

	We want to substantially lessen the daily burdens and dangers of life with T1D
	Then, remove T1D completely from people's lives, returning them to normal health
	Finally, eliminate the threat of T1D from every life in the future

We are uniquely positioned to carry out this plan and create a future without T1D.

	We drive advances across every stage of the research pipeline from earliest research to human trials to new product launch.
	We partner with academia, foundations, industry, governments, regulators, and insurers as the center of a global, coordinated effort.
	We have a dedicated team of 24 PhD and MD scientists with experience translating research in academia and industry and measuring progress toward our strategic goals.
	We are highly efficient - more than 80% of what we spend goes directly to research and research-related education. Forbes recently named JDRF one of its five all-star charities in fundraising efficiency.

JDRF has no endowment. Every dollar we spend every year to execute our plan is secured through the annual support of our donors. Clinical trials and clinical development are increasingly expensive. Basic research in mice is costly, but proof of effectiveness, safety, and market preparation in humans is even more so. Today, JDRF has $530 million at work around the world advancing our goals. But it is not enough.

As successful as we have been to date, the gap between where we are now and delivering life-changing therapies is large. We need to increase the number of dollars we deploy annually so that we can take full advantage of the exciting opportunities we see in T1D research. The incidence of T1D is rising. As many as 3 million Americans may have T1D, and 30,000 more are diagnosed each year. The healthcare costs are staggering. Type 1 diabetes costs $14.9 billion in the United States each year. We can't wait to fund the best strategies globally to achieve our vision of a world without T1D.

For more information or to make a donation to JDRF, please visit www.jdrf.org.