To read and sign the petition, click here.

The letter to the Commissioner highlights the need for guidance on out-patient trials for the artificial pancreas. Please help us gather the support of the Senate also and make sure this important technology continues to progress!

See the JDRF Advocacy website for more information

Steps toward a fully-automated system continue to advance, adding to the prospect that artificial pancreas devices could eventually become available for people with type 1 diabetes. Mounting evidence of research funded by JDRF and others suggests an artificial pancreas, which would automatically control high and low blood sugar around the clock, has the potential to transform the care of people with type 1 diabetes, enabling them to live longer and healthier lives.

Artificial pancreas technologies have shown success in improving glucose control when tested in controlled in-patient or hospital settings. Now they have to be put to the test in real-life situations. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a workshop in November to discuss next steps in the testing of these devices. There was general consensus among researchers, clinicians, and patients at the workshop that it is time to start testing these systems outside of the hospital.

But the FDA needs to provide clear and reasonable guidance when reviewing and approving artificial pancreas trials before they can proceed. Having guidance from FDA will accelerate the ability of researchers and companies to develop this much-needed technology for patients with type 1 diabetes. However, without clear and reasonable guidance to allow outpatient studies on the device from the FDA, the development of this transformative technology could be delayed.

Come join JDRF’s Aaron Kowalski for the latest developments on the artificial pancreas and next steps on how we can move testing safely and effectively into outpatient settings. Find out what JDRF is doing, and what you can do to help.

So, please tune-in to www.jdrf.org/livewebcasts on March 8 at 1pm EST to join our discussion. If you are unable to watch live, the webcast will be recorded and archived in the same location on our site.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please let us know. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, or just email us at advocacy@jdrf.org.

Thanks!

NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2010 — “Today Congress passed a multi-year renewal of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), ensuring that studies on promising diabetes treatments and avenues toward a cure continue uninterrupted. As the father of a son living with type 1 diabetes, and as CEO of JDRF, one of the leading advocates for the renewal of this program, I applaud the U.S. government for its continued commitment to end this disease.

Click Here to read the entire statement

Re “Rediscovering the First Miracle Drug” (Oct. 5): As a father of a 16-year-old who has lived with diabetes for well over eight years, I recognize that injectable insulin was not a cure, and still isn’t. It is merely life support. But we must recognize that the researchers who discovered insulin paved the way for significant advances that continue to this day — including reformulating the insulin molecule to more closely mimic the workings of a human pancreas. These improvements not only benefit people today but are steps on the road to an artificial pancreas — an automated system that will better manage the blood sugar of people with Type 1 diabetes.

As a reminder

Be sure to join JDRF for the live video event at noon EST. The program is scheduled to last 1 hour. The video will be streamed through our Promise Campaign blog. You can access it by clicking this link. Aaron will start by providing answers to as many of your questions as he can.  We’ll be streaming our video with the help of Ustream. Ustream’s product allows participants to ask questions over the course of Aaron’s presentation. So, time permitting, Aaron will respond to those as well.

New York, NY and Franklin Lakes, NJ (January 19, 2010) – The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE:BDX) announced today an innovative program aimed at improving the treatment of type 1 diabetes by developing novel insulin delivery products to enhance the use of insulin pumps.

Through the program, JDRF will support BD’s research and development of new products that deliver insulin from a pump to a patient in either an infusion set or patch-pump configuration. Research indicates that there are significant opportunities to enhance pump therapy by improving convenience as well as minimizing pain, kinking, occlusions and site infections. An additional goal of the program is improving the speed at which insulin works. These enhancements are intended to improve how people with diabetes control their insulin therapy and have a positive impact on their overall level of glycemic control.

Read the full story.

The national JDRF has an entire site with more information about the artificial pancreas project.