In addition to Tom Brobson, introduced last month here, Mike Anderson has joined the chapter as a Clinical Trials Education Volunteer. Here’s Mike:

If you are reading this bold, brief and captivating little introduction about me, then I’ll bet we are both on the same journey: the walk to cure T1D, the dusty bike ride across Death Valley, or the same fundraising effort designed to fund the next, critical clinical trial that leads to a new finish line. Together, WE are the cure. You and I just haven’t met yet. 

My name is Mike Anderson, a volunteer from the Richmond, Virginia area, and I joined the JDRF family on May 4, 1998 when I received my type 1 diagnosis. It was 7:30 am, to be exact. Not something you forget. Now, 23 years since that early morning doctor’s visit, I can report that I’m still totally married to this amazing marathon of turning Type One into Type None for those who desperately need solutions and a better quality of life.  As happy warriors committed to the common goal, I’m also reminded of a popular cliche that JDRF family members have been heard to say more than once in public:

“Thanks to my type 1 diabetes, I’ve met and become friends and family with some of the absolute greatest, most courageous humans … people whom I wish I had never, ever met.” Ironic and true. One of those people is Tom Brobson, the man, the myth and the legend to all of us in the region. Together, Tom and I are working as Clinical Trial Education volunteers (CTEV) here in the Mid-Atlantic chapter of Maryland, DC and Virginia.  Like Tom, I will be a resource to help you find out about active clinical trials in our region, answer your questions, and even connect you with the enrollment coordinators that run the trials.

And speaking of some of the greatest humans you’ll ever meet, I’d like to say thanks again to all the amazingly awesome researchers, doctors, nurses and trial coordinators I’ve met and shared my T1D data with in more than a decade of trial participation. Words do not cover my gratitude for their health care leadership and friendship. They care about us. That’s why I want to encourage everyone to keep participating in trials OR to consider joining one for the first time. Reach out to us and we’ll help you get started.

You just might end up meeting someone like Tom Brobson, or Dr. Sue Brown, or Dr. Stacy Anderson, or coordinator Mary Oliveri (she is a Chicago Bears fan, but I still like her) all at the University of Virginia or perhaps the head of the UVA Center for Diabetes Technology center – the one and only Dr. Boris Kovatchev. This team changed my life and in some future trial you may find they will change your life for the better by perfecting a new life-changing therapy for T1D in a clinical trial.

My diabetes health is never, ever perfect. However, my participation in clinical trials makes me smarter and more enthusiastic about managing my own health care. My A1c is also better because of it. The trials provide hope for me, for you, for your children and the next generation of our family. And I’ll see you soon at the next T1D family reunion.

If you have questions about clinical trials, please reach out to me at mike.anderson415@gmail.com.