Those of us in the T1 community in the great Pacific Northwest are lucky.  It’s not too often you hear lucky and T1 in the same sentence.

However, those in the T1 community, the larger community around the whole country and even world are lucky that some of the preeminent research facilities are here in the PNW.  Some of the leading T1 research happens here in our own backyard, and we are able to take advantage of that research by volunteering to participate in their clinical trials.  Here in the PNW we are home to Benaroya, Rainier Clinical Research, University of Washington,  Oregon Health & Science University(OHSU), and the Rocky Mountain Clinical Research (Idaho).

You might ask why you would want to participate in a trial?  There are several good reasons that can benefit you and also the larger T1 community.  For instance,  anyone reading this blog has spent hours helping to raise money for the JDRF to fund T1 research.  Today, up to 80% of the trials you help fund are delayed due to lack of clinical trial volunteers.  By volunteering, you can maximize the impact of the money you raise.

Another great reason to volunteer is to be at the cutting edge of science, and learning about where we are headed.  An additional benefit is making the personal connections to the folks performing research and your fellow participants.

We would love to hear any feedback on why you have already participated in a clinical trial, or why you may be hesitant to participate.  Laura and I are eager to hear from you, and hopefully answer and questions you might have.  Please feel free to shoot us a note at: jrestis@yahoo.com (Jude), LDTremblay71@gmail.com (Laura).