The Barbara Davis Center: Cutting edge

December 11, 6:42 PMDenver Diabetes ExaminerTyler McNally

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Denver Diabetes Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The Nationally renowned Barbara Davis Center

So few outside the medical and diabetes communities know of one of the most cutting-edge places Denver has to offer. No it's not the skate park at 20th and Little Raven, or the Denver Art Museum. No, way cooler than that, to me and my cohorts anyway. We lucky Denver diabetics have at our disposal one of the most state of the art diabetes research facilities in the country. The Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes gives millions of people like me hope. While it may be a niche interest, it is still a nationally renowned and respected research center.

I should know. As I wrote this, I was sitting inside the BDC participating in a diabetes research study. Not as a researcher, but as a test subject. I’m a writer, not a scientist, remember.

Until now, I’ve never guinea-pigged myself out for the betterment of science, but as a diabetic of 11 years, I don’t mind contributing to the cause. In fact, I’m relishing in it. (If you would like to contribute to the cause, check out the BDC's fund raising wing, the Children's Diabetes Foundation.) I peruse the halls looking for bulletin boards or fliers calling out for study participants. I cross my fingers that I match the specifications. Rarely am I a match, but if by chance I am, that researcher can bet she’ll have a willing and strangely eager diabetic to poke and prod.

I am eager to help because the Barbara Davis Center brings out the best in the diabetes world. It inspires, teaches and reaches type 1 diabetics of all ages and backgrounds. It highlights with confidence breakthroughs in diabetes technology and research. Most of all, it is a comforting resource for people like me. I probably just roam the halls seeking out studies just because I like being there. It’s consoling.

Instead of choking up when I see a 5 year-old walk in, knowing the torture diabetes affords her through no fault of her own, I am comforted by that the Barbara Davis Center exists for her at all.

More to come on the BDC and its events, so check back for updates on one of my favorite places to visit in Denver.