– Samir will be available for interviews on location from Washington throughout the event (July 8-10) –
British Columbia, July 4, 2019 – 16-year-old Samir Dattani, a long-time type 1 diabetes advocate from Vancouver’s Westside-Kerrisdale neighbourhood, is set to join hundreds of delegates from the United States and around the world at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s 2019 Children’s Congress in Washington, D.C. from July 8 – 10, where he will represent Canadians living with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
Once every two years, JDRF brings young people living with T1D together with top US decision-makers to share their personal stories and challenges of living with type 1 diabetes. Through sharing their experiences, the delegates aim to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes and help Congress understand what life with the disease is like, and why their support in funding life-changing research is critical.
Diagnosed at the age of 8, Samir quickly became an active advocate for those living with type 1 diabetes and has twice participated in JDRF Canada’s Kids for a Cure lobby day in Ottawa. He is also a JDRF Boston Pizza Youth Ambassador. "I’m looking forward to communicating the T1D story from a Canadian perspective in a way that creates change and progress so that we can work towards a better life for all of those in the T1D community," said Samir ahead of his time at Children’s Congress.
Follow Samir while he’s in Washington on JDRF social channels and follow the 2019 Children’s Congress using the hashtag #JDRFCC19.
To arrange an interview with Samir, please contact: Soledad Vega | svega@jdrf.ca | 647-789-2025
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About JDRF Canada
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF’s goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people’s lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D. JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. For more information, please visit breakthrought1d.ca.
