JDRF in Your Community

On December 1 and 2, 2017, the JDRF Eastern PA Chapter held our annual TypeOneNation Summit and a new event for both healthcare professionals and families called Performance in Exercise and Knowledge (PEAK).  It was a successful weekend bringing our chapter’s community a one-of-a-kind learning experience with incredible opportunities to network and build friendships.

Cheers to a successful TypeOneNation Summit (TON)!  Thank you to all those who participated; we look forward to seeing you (and many others next year)!  This year the underlying theme was “Mindfulness”.  Tom Sterner, an expert in Present Moment Functioning and founder and CEO of The Practicing Mind Institute, empowered our guests by speaking of how being mindful of your feelings and emotions regarding type 1 diabetes (T1D) can make experiences with the disease more manageable.  Bonnie O’Neil, JDRF Board Member, “gave hope” to families by sharing her experiences and some day to day tips for navigating family relationships. An impressive panel made up of a teacher, two school nurses, a school therapist with T1D, and the mother of an amazing 18 year old (diagnosed at age 5), answered audience questions and engaged families in detailed conversation about mindfully navigating your T1D kid through school, and The Resiliency Center worked with the children (some w/T1D, some with T1D siblings or parents), teaching them what mindfulness is, how to use it to their benefit and how to tap into their innate resiliency.

Many thanks to Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE., a local hero in the T1D world with an international reputation along with the renowned Becky Sulik, RD., LD., CDE. Director of Education, Rocky Mountain Diabetes Center, Idaho Falls.  They, along with Inigo San Millian, Ph.D. Director of the Sports Performance Program at the Colorado University Sports Medicine and Performance Center in Boulder, Colorado, brought healthcare professionals of Eastern Pennsylvania an innovative and unique program designed to increase education on the effective management of physical activity and nutrition for individuals with T1D.  Attendees included physicians, nurses, diabetes educators and trainers from treatment centers, hospitals and schools.

Families of Eastern Pennsylvania were also provided the opportunity to participate in PEAK.  In their sessions they were provided information needed to manage physical activity and nutrition when combined with T1D.

We here at JDRF look forward to offering more experiences to our constituents in the years to come!  For additional resources please reach out to CarlaAnn Henry, Outreach Manager, at chenry@jdrf.org or 610-227-0361.

December Research Update with Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D.

Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President, Translational Development and International Partnerships, was with members of the JDRF Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter in mid-December to share exciting updates in type 1 diabetes research as well as the importance of  advocacy efforts.

View Dr. Dutta’s research update here.