I have read many great things about Dr Faustman’s research
(www.faustmanlab.org)
“In 2001, her lab reversed type 1 diabetes in mice with end stage disease, a project that is now being translated into human clinical trials.”
I wrote her to see if I could participate in the studies and received an email back within a few days. They are setting up appointments for as far as December to donate blood. They’re asking for T1D as well as a “control” person (someone who will donate blood too who is non-diabetic and does not have any other auto immune diseases).
If you’re going to help in the research (I think it’s a great cause!), they ask that you bring yourself, as well as the “control” person, each time that you come (typically every 3-4 months)
I am going to be doing my first blood donation in December and I’m not entirely sure what the next steps will be. I’m willing to do most anything as Dr Faustman’s research has come very close to finding a cure for T1D!
Can you post their letter here? I’m interested and will write to them presently. But if they are sending out generic letters, I might as well read what they wrote to you and go from there.
I too, am coming to Boston in December to donate blood. check out her website that Marps listed abouve to find out more information.They are still taking volunteers.
wow this is all so great. i can’t be available in december because of business being too busy for me but i really hope that you all help to make a difference for us all. kudos to those who are donating to this!!
Amanda, December is probably just the earliest date that we could be scheduled. You can contact a Melissa Pierce through the Faustman website listed above ( it gives her email) and she will contact you directly for a later date: I think that they are going into 2010 with this. Contact them to find out for sure… I seriously believe that Dr.Faustman’s research will lead to a permanent cure for type one diabetes…She needs more money to continue through all the clinical trial stages, so donating to her in that way would be just as meaningful and would make a difference, Again, look at www.faustmanlab.org for details.,…
Lorraine, you are a gifted writer and a world-class mom… I just checked out your blog essays: They were both heart-wrenching and inspirational. Incidentally,it will be just after my birthday weekend when I sojourn to the Faustman Lab, so I consider this trip a birthday treat for myself…
that’s great thank you brunetta!! i read her website when marps posted it earlier and it looks incredibly promising. it’s very exciting. does anyone know if you sign up what happens after the blood drawings?? do they then what you for more tests??
Amanda, I am not certain, but I think that the participants in the blood donation would be considered (but not definitely) for the stage II and stage III treatment / placebo trials if they meet the inclusion critieria that is determined by the blood draw. Maybe they will consider current levels of the damaging anti-beta cell entities, presence of other auto- immune disorders and the like. I am just surmising this from perusal of the site., I am no scientest!!! I am not sure of how many volunteers are needed… I do know that you need to bring a “control” subject with you, who has no auto-immune diseases for the study, in order to compare healthy subjects to the target population. I will know more , I presume, immediately prior to and after the donation.
i just got a chance to read more of her website and i’ve got to tell you i got goosebumps and even more excited about the results of these tests. i’m sure if everything goes the way they want, it would be easier to get through the fda because they are using a drug that already is approved by them. how exciting. a cure in 10 years?? wow.
Maybe less. Remember ,I was told as a child of the civil-rights era, the 50’s and 60’s, that I would never live to see a Black president…" Yes, we can" : I think that a cure for type one, IF THE MONEY IS THERE, will be forthcoming in 5-8 years at the max.
You are very kind. Incidentally, the first video I ever did was to increase awareness for Dr. Faustman and it propelled me into the D-internet world. I got so much more out of making that video than I ever imagined.
I wish you the best! Good luck with the trials. If blood work was not such a torment for Caleb, I would try to get him in there too.
I’m excited about Faustman’s trials but really she cured diabetic mice using something called Complete Freud’s Adjuvant which is toxic in humans. And BCG (which she’s currently using) would only solve the autoimmune problem if it works. Faustman said that islet cell regeneration (the second half of the problem) was viable through spleen cell transplants but even that hasn’t shown much promise (when her studies were duplicated by other research teams). The results of phase II were supposed to come out in 2009, but they have been delayed to 2010.
Still, I hope that it works out, I’ve even donated to her cause…but I personally think there are viable therapies out there that have sturdier research and better funding supporting them. And those therapies aren’t just geared toward T1, but many other autoimmune conditions which make them even more appealing to big pharma.
