Please welcome our new Clinical Trial Volunteers for the Kansas and Missouri Chapter – Brandee Failee and Mark Cagwin! In their new roles, Brandee and Mark will dedicate time to share the importance of clinical trials in medical research and encourage people to seek information on T1D clinical trials that are actively recruiting participants.  One of the main reasons research projects are slow is lack of awareness and knowledge of clinical trials.  Brandee & Mark plan to get the word out via chapter communication, engaging with local endocrinologists, attending JDRF events and providing information about local trials and how to get in contact with them.

Brandee Failee
Kansas City Clinical Trial Volunteer

Brandee became involved in JDRF in 2015 after being diagnosed with Type 1.  She was an adult at diagnosis and became very engaged with the JDRF community and spent a great deal of time learning about the disease and efforts to cure the disease.  Brandee currently sits on the Kansas City Community Board and is an active member in recruiting others to JDRF efforts.  Brandee has participated in the JDRF Ride twice in Wisconsin and plans to do again in the coming years!

Brandee has a husband (Chris), daughter (Jane), cat and dog that reside in Shawnee, KS.  She currently works as Managing Director, People Strategies at TIFEC.  TIFEC is a conglomerate of companies including Sporting KC, Fanthreesitxy, Novations IQ, Loch Lloyd and other enterprises.  Prior to her time there, she was at Cerner, Amazon and T-Mobile where she led large HR teams around the globe.  She grew up in the KC area and attended Kansas State University and Montana State University for graduate school.  She is thrilled to take on this volunteer position and looks forward to connecting with many of you.  If you would like to contact Brandee you can reach her at brandee@tifec.com.

Mark Cagwin
St. Louis Clinical Trial Volunteer

Mark was diagnosed with Type 1 in 2001 and actively became involved in JDRF in 2021 as his son was also diagnosed with Type 1.  Mark currently sits on the St. Louis Community Board.

Mark has a wife (Kristine), daughter (Lilly), two sons (Luke and Gabe), and two Great Danes that reside in Des Peres.  He currently works as System VP – Treasury & Chief Investment Officer for SSM Health.  Prior to SSM Health, Mark also worked for BJC Healthcare and at PricewaterhouseCoopers in St. Louis.  He grew up in Oxford, Ohio and attended Miami University while subsequently getting his MBA at Webster University in St. Louis.  Mark is thrilled to take on this volunteer position and looks forward to connecting with many of you.  If you would like to contact Mark you can reach him at mark.cagwin@gmail.com.

To learn more about Clinical Trials and how can you can get involved, please reach out to Brandee and/or Mark or kansasmissouri@jdrf.org.