Posted by Alan F. Bachrach, M.D. on October 17, 1997 at 00:59:32:
In Reply to: Re: Waking up the apathetic public:JDF posted by charlie lawrence on October 16, 1997 at 23:16:50:
I can't speak for others, but I am giving money directly to those that I feel will provide the most benefit. I gave a large donation this past year to the Vanderbilt Diabetes center which is where my children receive their care. I will continue to give to Vanderbilt but next year I am also going to give a donation to the Diabetes Research Institute where Dr. Camillo Ricordi is one of the directors. You can learn more about the DRI on their website. It is located at U of Miami. The fast track center is available to help push promising technology forward quickly (such as the work of Encelle on macroencapsulation) with clinical trials. I spoke with Dr. Ricordi and it sounds as if the dollars invested in DRI will be well spent in terms of producing a cure ASAP. So, if you don't want to donate to the JDF consider the DRI or some other entity you feel is more entitled. Obviously the money doesn't have to be funneled through JDF (in fact more of it will get to the ultimate recipient if it is give directly).