Tag Archives: Events

Scholarships! Get your red hot scholarships!

January 20, 2015 – 12:29 pm

This past Wednesday’s DSMA Twitter Chat was all about travel and diabetes. Actually, it turned out that travel and diabetes was part of it, and travel for diabetes was another part of it.

Anyway, one of our questions was:

Are you aware that there are groups who offer scholarships to attend diabetes events?

I was shocked to find out that many were not aware of this fact. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with those people. Rather, it means we, as a community, need to do a better job of letting people know about said scholarships and we need to do a better job of supporting those organizations who do award scholarships.

Every time a semi-big diabetes event occurs, or someone writes about their child with diabetes going away to a camp or something, a lot of hand-wringing goes on about who is there, and why, or how, they got there in the first place. Well, we get there a number of ways (and I realize I’m using “we” with a very big umbrella here). Sometimes these things are geographically close to us. Or we actually, you know, save our money so we can afford to get there. Some events are invitation-only and travel is paid for those who attend. And yes, sometimes, we receive scholarships.

I can’t do anything about those first three things. But as far as the scholarships are concerned: I can let you know about them, and then it’s up to you to either apply for them or not. And if you have a desire to go, and you can’t quite fit it into your budget, why wouldn’t you apply?

This is my attempt to give you a rundown of the scholarship opportunities I know about right now. This is not a comprehensive list, but it’s a start, and if you know of additional resources, please leave a comment below or send me an e-mail and I’ll add them. Some of these are actual scholarships to college for kids with diabetes, and some are scholarships that will help you or your child attend a diabetes event that you might not otherwise be able to travel to.

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First, let me tell you about the amazing work of Diabetes Scholars. Since 2004, the non-profit Diabetes Scholars Foundation has provided scholarships for over 3,000 families to attend the big diabetes meetup of the year, Children With Diabetes Friends for Life conference in Orlando. Many of these families would not be able to go without the assistance of Diabetes Scholars. Diabetes Scholars also provides college scholarships to high school seniors looking to further their education. Get all the details on scholarship opportunities and the application process at
diabetesscholars.org.
 
 
Speaking of college, College Diabetes Network has a terrific list of college scholarships available throughout the USA. These are scholarships that are available from a number of sources, but this page contains a brief description of each scholarship opportunity and a link to its source:
https://collegediabetesnetwork.org/content/scholarships
 
 
Diabetes Hands Foundation and Diabetes Advocates: These two non-profit orgs (DA is a group of, well, diabetes advocates under the DHF umbrella) provide scholarships to a variety of D-conferences throughout the year, including the annual American Association of Diabetes Educators conference, American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions, and Friends for Life. In addition, they created one day scholarships to attend MasterLab, a one-day advocacy workshop at FFL last year, and my guess is they will do the same this year (though I have no inside knowledge). To look into scholarship opportunities, start at
diabeteshandsfoundation.org.
Disclosure: I received a scholarship from Diabetes Advocates to attend MasterLab last year. More about that in a minute.
 
 
The American Diabetes Association, in addition to support received from corporate sponsors (thank you Eli Lilly), helps to provide “camperships” for kids to attend diabetes camps across America. The process is pretty simple, and it’s spelled out at
http://www.diabetes.org/in-my-community/diabetes-camp/financial-assistance.html
 
 
The always-inspiring Team Type 1 Foundation works to provide help, hope, and awesome examples of athletes with Type 1 diabetes making a positive influence on the world. They also provide college scholarships to Type 1 athletes competing at NCAA and NAIA institutions. Their scholarship page has all the information, including requirements:
http://teamtype1.org/gasp/

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That’s the list so far. I know there are many, many more scholarship opportunities out there, but I just haven’t found them yet. Again, if you know about something not mentioned here, leave me a comment or an e-mail, and I’ll add it to the list.

One other thing, and this is personal, so feel free to ignore the rest of this post: As I mentioned above, I received a scholarship to attend MasterLab last year. A couple of months later (or maybe I just noticed it a couple of months later), I read a few things about a person or persons who were unhappy, and felt like the same people are always getting to go to important diabetes events. Well, I felt horrible about that. This was the only thing I’ve ever been given (other than an invitation) to attend a diabetes event. But since then, I’ve wondered if, by accepting a scholarship to attend, I was denying someone else’s opportunity.

So this year, I’m not applying for any scholarships. If I can afford to go to something, I will. If I cannot, I won’t, and I won’t worry about it. This is my decision, and my decision alone, and I doubt it will have any real impact at all. After all, I’m not exactly giving up something I’ve already been granted. And I can’t say that I’ll always feel this way. Each year carries its own concerns and priorities, and I may go back and apply for scholarships in 2016. But for this year, if you want to apply for a scholarship, know that you have one less competitor.

That doesn’t mean I’ll be completely absent from everything this year. I get a lot out of going to diabetes events… I learn a lot, which is something I feel I need, and I can’t discount the interaction that goes on among people I can call friends now. But hopefully, those people are still my friends whether I’m there in person or not. And the fact is, I don’t really attend a lot in person anyway, and a lot has been done over the past couple of years to help get content online for people who aren’t able to attend something in person. In the end, I have an admitted desire to go to everything I can get to. But if I don’t make it this year, it’s not the end of the world.

You? You should go. Educate yourself. Meet people. Form bonds. Ramp up your advocacy. And if you need a little help to get there, always be on the lookout for scholarship opportunities.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Events | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

The Glu Real-World Research App is a finalist today.

May 9, 2014 – 9:07 am

Got anything on your plate today, say at 1:00 EDT in the USA? Are you a MyGlu member? If so, you might already know about this. If not, you probably want to log in and check this out.

I got a chance to chat by phone with Christine from T1D Exchange this week, and she filled me in on the details of a live streaming presentation being made today for (official title) Sanofi’s Partners in Patient Health and North America Research & Development Hub Innovation Challenge: Collaborate Innovate. T1D Exchange is a finalist for the $100,000 prize!

So… many of you are familiar with the T1D Exchange, an online database effort headquartered in Boston that gathers oodles of data from people with Type 1 diabetes. T1D Exchange also works with 73 clinics in the USA, covering 27,000 patients. In addition, part of T1D Exchange’s efforts is MyGlu, which is an “online community designed to accelerate research and amplify the collective voice of those living with T1D.” MyGlu has something approaching 10,000 members now, who share information and participate in data gathering in a huge way. To that end, they’ve been wanting to create an app (called the Glu Real-World Research App) that would make it easier for patients to participate in studies. Their presentation will be centered around that. In their own words:

”Our hope is to expand our already successful model to help mitigate the issues in R&D and accelerate progress for those living with T1D and, in the future, other disease groups.”

I was interested in the challenge, and what T1D Exchange and MyGlu hope to accomplish through all of this. So I asked some questions. Questions like:

How many competitors are you going up against on Friday?
There are four finalists that were selected from a large number of presentations. Since the finalists were announced, they’ve all been working with mentors assigned to help the teams develop their pitch in a clear, concise fashion designed to wow the judges. All of the teams will present via live streaming beginning Friday at 1:00 eastern time. The T1D Exchange presentation will be second. After that, from about 2:30 to 3:30, the judges will deliberate, and at 3:30 the winner will be announced.

Note: You can view the live streaming presentations at 1:00 today by going to www.collaborateinnovate.com. You can also follow @CollaboratePIPH on Twitter for updates throughout the course of the challenge.

What is the app about? What will it do?
The app will further T1D Exchange and MyGlu’s mission, connecting and supporting patients, and helping researchers and patients share information in a very easy way. Say, for instance, a researcher is doing a study that requires real-world responses from T1D patients that meet a certain criteria: pump users, CGM users, MDI patients, etc. Researchers would find those people from among those who’ve downloaded the Glu Real-World Research App and completed their profiles. This way, study organizers could more easily find study subjects, and potential study subjects could find researchers seeking the data these patients are uniquely qualified to deliver.

This is also a collaborative effort with others?
They’re partnering with MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s) H@acking Medicine in the design of this app, and they’re partnering with Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. MIT obviously brings technical expertise to the table in areas such as rapid product design, lean start-up methodology, workflow re-engineering, novel data collection, big data analysis, and information publishing. And Joslin brings unparalleled knowledge and passion for researching diabetes and treating patients with diabetes.

You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you want. Let’s say you win. What happens next?
Should they win, they would immediately start sitting down with various stakeholders and subject matter experts to determine timelines and establish priorities. Then they’ll assign people to various aspects of the project, and keep track of specific milestones to make sure everything is going according to plan and budget.

Anything else you wish to tell us?
They’ve been wanting to develop an app like this for a long time. They’re thrilled to be a finalist for this award. They’re hoping everyone will watch!

Once again… You can watch the live streaming event at 1:00 EDT (US) today by going to www.collaborateinnovate.com, and you can follow the challenge via Twitter by following @CollaboratePIPH.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see what forward-thinkers in the diabetes world are working on. I hope you can make it! Don’t forget to share this with others.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Events | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Like these Friday links.

April 25, 2014 – 7:54 am

There’s a lot for me to talk about this Friday, so let’s get down to it:
 
 
– Provided I can get through rush hour traffic and make it to Washington, D.C. after work today, I’ll be sitting in on the DSMA Live social media meetup at the Diabetes Sisters Weekend for Women conference in our nation’s capital. The event is free and open to the public. If you can’t be there, you can listen in here. Don’t forget to follow @DiabetesSocMed on Twitter, and look for all the virtual conversation using the #DSMA hashtag.

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DHC2014
– Thanks to the inimitable Scott Johnson and others, the Diabetes Hope Conference will be happening again. According to the official conference website:

“Through the magic of GoToWebinar and HD Faces, we’ll live stream all of the virtual panels and take questions live from the audience via Twitter and the hashtag #dHopeConf.”

The conference takes place from noon to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20.

A bunch of your favorites will be on the panels. The content looks to be timely and important. Over 250 people joined the conference last year. Make sure you’re one of the multitudes attending the 2014 edition. So check out the conference agenda, do your virtual RSVP (here), and for heaven’s sake, participate!

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– Lizmari writes over at The Angry Type 2 Diabetic, and she wrote an interesting post about patient dignity back on April 11. She finishes with these words:

“In the end, the person who’ll end up costing more to a society is not the person with diabetes: it is the diabetes bully.”

Read the words leading up to that finish, and you’ll find a few diabetes truths in there to chew on.

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– On a non-diabetes note, Libby at I Have The Sugars wrote probably the best thing I’ve read yet about the Boston Marathon tragedy from a year ago. In it, she talks about how the bombings affected her, and what she carries forward from those scary, eventful days last Spring.

I was hanging on every word of it, and I know you will too.

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Finally, a quick reminder that I’ve updated the Blogs Worth Your Attention listed on the left side of this page. I took out three who aren’t posting anymore, and I added eight new ones that weren’t there yesterday. This is a long overdue update. All of those D-blogs are worth your time, and they will inspire you.
 
 
Enjoy your weekend… more about my recent endo visit (not great, my fault), and something that absolutely breaks my heart, coming next week.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged , , | Comments (3)

Like these links – Back from vacation.

April 4, 2014 – 10:28 am

Vacation was nice… but now I’m back!

I didn’t see as much baseball as I would have liked, but the weather is often unpredictable, or so I’ve heard. Since I’m still getting back into the swing of things, I’ll take this time to share a few diabetes-related things that are coming your way soon.

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You may have noticed the Tour de Cure icon on the left side of this page. Rather than hounding people for donations to my ride on May 17 this year, I put up the image so you can donate if you’re able. The American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure rides that take place all over the country are marvelous events that raise a lot of money for education and research, but also provide a place for all of us Red Riders (and Type Awesomes) to get together and enjoy a day on top of our two-wheelers. I won’t kid you… the money is tight this year. If you’re able, I could really use your help in making this ride happen.

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Locally to Baltimore, a digital marketing and technology agency is hosting a happy hour on April 16 at Sotto Sopra, which is one of the city’s great Italian restaurants. The goal of R2integrated is to raise $5,000 for the company’s team at the ADA’s Tour de Cure ride in Carroll County on May 3.

Twenty dollars gets you in the door, and gets you a drink and a chance at some awesome raffle prizes. There will be additional food and drink specials and live music too, plus some guest bartending.

Once again, the event is April 16 from 5:00 to 8:00 at Sotto Sopra on Charles Street. You can get your ticket in advance here.

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I may have mentioned this before, but… it’s always nice to say it twice. Diabetes Sisters is hosting a conference in Washington, D.C. in late April. Actually, it will be in Alexandria Virginia, just across the Potomac river from our nation’s capital.

Did you know that there will be a DSMA Live meetup on Friday night? It will happen on Friday, April 25 from 8:00 to 9:00. This event is open to the public (including guys like myself). If you’re somewhere nearby and you’ve never seen a DSMA Live meetup in person, here’s your chance. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

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One day later, JDRF and Children’s National Medical Center is inviting high school students living with Type 1 and/or their parents to a two hour session at Children’s to talk about the teen transition years, including handing off care of a student’s diabetes from parent to child, moving from pediatric to adult medical care, and of course, taking your diabetes to college. Speakers and panelists will include professionals from Children’s National Medical Center, and peers who are in college, or recently graduated from college.

The event happens on Saturday, April 26 from 10:00 to noon. Click here to register for the event.

I also hear that a similar event will be making its way to Baltimore soon.

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Hope your weekend is off to a flying start… get lots of rest and lots of play.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

People are talking: #JDRFSummit Part Three.

March 5, 2014 – 9:53 am

Saturday I was one of the many at the extremely well-attended JDRF TypeOneNation DC Research Summit, in suburban Washington. Lots of updates on research all over the diabetes spectrum, and a chance to interact with some of the attendees. Including one I was able to meet for the first time. There was an awful lot packed into one day, so I’ve broken it out into three days of posts. Monday, I covered the morning’s presentations. Yesterday, I covered the afternoon talks. Today, my interactions with summit attendees and a DOC meetup!

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One of the great things about attending an event like this is being able to interact with others who share some of the same experiences in life. If you’re really lucky, you get to meet someone you know… you know, in a sort of “Hey, there’s a famous person! I read everything they write!” kind of way. I got to meet someone like that on Saturday:

Kelley-Summit

Kelley Kent writes over at Below-Seven.com. I got to meet her and her husband Chris. Kelley has a great story to tell, and she’s a beast of an athlete. In the last year alone she’s completed a 5K run, an 8K run, a 10K run, a 10 miler, a triathlon, and 2 half marathons. All while spending her 20th year living with diabetes. In fact, Kelley is our 9th Champion Athlete With Diabetes medal winner! Look for her story here soon.

You’ll often see Kelley on the Wednesday night #DSMA chats on Twitter, and she’s one of the most friendly and supportive members of the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) that I know of. If you don’t know her, you should reach out. You’ll be happy you did. I really wish that I had spent more time with Kelley and Chris. But that’s my problem, not yours.

There were a couple of conversations I had on Saturday, right at the table where I was sitting. To my right was a person, around Kelley’s age, living with Type 1 and planning a long, 5 day climb this year. Big trip. She expressed some worries about how to maintain a good balance with her BGs while working so hard on the climb. I turned my iPad toward her and pointed at Kelley on my Twitter feed.

“This person here?… This is Kelley. She’s here in the room today. She’s an amazing athlete. She’s completed a number of events in the past year, and I’ll bet she could give you some great advice”.

Then I downshifted into the “there are thousands of D-people online, and there’s always someone who’s gone through what you’re going through who could help you a lot” elevator speech. She quickly wrote down Kelley’s Twitter info and put it in her purse.

See what I did there? I just made the diabetes community bigger. Kelley, I hope she reaches out to you very soon, if she hasn’t already.

To my left Saturday was a family… Mom, Dad, and their daughter, in her early twenties. The daughter was sitting directly to my left. Unfortunately, Dad was a little too eager to give details about his daughter, and how she’s managing her diabetes. He couldn’t seem to understand why it was so hard for her.

I had to remind him that diabetes is always hard, even on the good days. And even if we do everything exactly the way we’re supposed to, we’re just one forgotten bolus, or one bad infusion set away from a high BG. I definitely had the “A1c is just a number, a reference point” discussion. I told him how the important thing is to use what you’ve experienced to help you in the future, but also to concentrate most on doing the best you can from this point forward.

I got a little chance to talk to the daughter. She’s smart, I can tell. There was this amazing handout I picked up at one of the vendor tables that day (I don’t know which one—it was mobbed, so I just grabbed the flyer and moved on). It was put together by Hope Warshaw, and it looks like this:

DSC01405

At one point while we were talking, I pointed at the flyer she had with all of the other things she collected that day. I said, “Do you ever go online and visit any of the places on that handout?”. She had not. Hadn’t heard about any of it. As I looked at her, I could see myself a few years ago, feeling lost, feeling alone, feeling like whatever my life was like then was how it was going to be, and that’s that. Overwhelmed by the diabetesness of it all.

I mentioned some of the places I thought she might find useful, but I also remember telling her that just about anyplace mentioned on that flyer would be a great place to start. I told her to reach out… people will respond and support her, because there isn’t anyone online who hasn’t gone through what she goes through every day. And I told her how the Wednesday night #DSMA chat is often the highlight of my week. Hopefully, I didn’t come off as some sort of old guy nut going on about things she doesn’t care about. I hope she finds a place where she feels like she belongs. I know that place is out there for her in our community.

You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had conversations like that with other PWDs. Every so often, you need to get out from behind your PC or mobile device and sit down with people who understand you, and who can remind you what’s important, and who can help you remember that you’re not the only one out there, and it’s okay to support and encourage. It’s been a cold winter in the Mid-Atlantic. I was glad to have found a bit of warmth on the first day of March.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Events | Also tagged , , | Comments (2)