Join us - Events - Discovery Day 2011
Discovery Day 2011
June 4th, 2011
As part of St. Vincent's Institute's Discovery Day on Saturday 4th June, AFL clubs Collingwood and St. Kilda clashed in a blockbuster match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The event helped to raise awareness and funds for ongoing research at St Vincent's Institute into juvenile diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes (also known as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes), is a lifelong autoimmune disease that affects over 140,000 children and adults in Australia. Put simply, in type 1 diabetes the body's own immune system destroys the cells that manufacture insulin – a hormone necessary for the body to convert food into energy. It is one of the most serious and common illnesses amongst Australian children, and there is currently no known cause or cure.
At SVI, medical researchers are working to improve the lives of people with type 1 diabetes. They are researching the causes of the disease, and investigating ways to better treat it. Through their research, this world class institute strives to help alleviate the enormous financial, emotional and physical impact diseases can have on individuals, their families and the community.
In recent years, SVI in conjunction with the Australian Football League, Collingwood and St Kilda Football Clubs have joined forces to promote Discovery Day – an initiative formed to raise awareness and funds so that research into juvenile diabetes can continue.
Discovery Day 2011 raised more than $50,000 to support SVI research into type 1 diabetes.