Shianne Carswell

JDRF/FRDJ Canada

For over 40 years, JDRF has been a global leader in the search for an end to Type 1 diabetes (T1D) through research funding and advocacy. We are helping to deliver life-changing breakthroughs, invent new treatments and drive scientific progress so that one day – in our lifetime – T1D will be a thing of the past. T1D is an autoimmune disease that causes the body's own immune system to attack and destroy the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, the hormone that enables us to get energy from food. It's a life-threatening condition that needs constant attention, affects children and adults, and can't be prevented. More than 300,000 Canadians currently have T1D and the incidence rate is growing by over 5% every year.