Raleigh, NC -- (SBWIRE) --05/18/2011 -- Andrea Ivarsson, chair of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) 8th annual Hope Gala, has been appointed to the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council by Jeffery P. Engel, M.D., the State Health Director. The Diabetes Advisory Council works with the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (DPCP), whose goals are to prevent diabetes and reduce disease, disability, and premature deaths from diabetes in North Carolina residents, and to eliminate diabetes related health disparities. Ivarsson’s term runs through May 31, 2013.

As a member of the council, Ivarsson will share her leadership and expertise to help find a cure for diabetes. Ivarsson has served as a volunteer for JDRF since September 2009, when her son, Oskar was diagnosed with the disease. Most recently she chaired the 8th annual Hope Gala, which raised more than $1 million to research the cause and ultimately find a cure for juvenile (Type 1) diabetes and its complications. Additionally, Ivarsson chaired JDRF’s 2010 Hope Gala which increased funds raised by nearly 100 percent and has served as a Research Information Volunteer (RIV) for the organization. She also coordinated the North Carolina Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society meeting from 2008 – 2010.

QUOTES:
“It is an honor to be a part of the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council,” Ivarsson said. “This organization is instrumental in fighting diabetes in North Carolina, and I look forward to continue working toward finding a way to prevent the disease and ultimately find a cure.”

NEW MEDIA CONTENT:
Andrea Ivarsson LinkedIn Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrea-ivarsson/10/a38/284

DETAILS:
- At the 8th annual JDRF Hope Gala a great portion of the funds raised will be directed towards the Artificial Pancreas Project (APP).

- Since its inception in 2004, the Hope Gala has become a focal point of the JDRF Triangle/Eastern N.C. Chapter’s fundraising efforts, raising more than $4 million.

- For more information about the Artificial Pancreas Project, visit http://www.artificialpancreasproject.com/research/default.html.

- For more information about the JDRF Triangle/Eastern N.C. Chapter, visit http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=100572.

About NORTH CAROLINA DIABETES ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Diabetes Advisory Council (DAC) was created in 1988 as an advisory group to the Diabetes Prevention and Control program. The council works to reduce the burden of diabetes through coordination among the many stakeholders in diabetes control in North Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.ncdiabetes.org/diabetesAdvisory/index.asp.

About JUVENILE DIABETES RESERCH FOUNDATION
JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke and amputation. For more information, visit http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=100572.

Jennifer Fair
MMI Public Relations
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