Lions April 2021 Newsletter

On March 28, Lions from all over the world came together for the virtual 63rd Annual Tribute Day in celebration of the long-standing relationship with City of Hope. Viewers were treated to words of support from special guests such as City of Hope's Vice President of Philanthropy Sharon Joyce, Ruth B & Robert K. Lanman Chair in Gene Regulation & Drug Discovery Research and Director of the Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute Debbie Thurmond, Ph.D., and world-renowned researcher, Arthur Riggs, Ph.D. himself, the Samuel Rahbar Chair in Diabetes & Drug Discovery. If you missed the event, don't worry! You can watch a recording of this special virtual event here.

 

 

 

Announced at the 63^rd Annual Tribute Day, the Lions Club Diabetes Innovation Fund’s newest grantee is Sangeeta Dhawan, Ph.D. Her work is focused on a key protein that determines the health of insulin-producing beta cells. Loss of this protein in the beta cells can severely damage them and cause very aggressive diabetes in mice. She has now found that humans with type 2 diabetes are also very low in this same protein. Her Lions project, made possible by your support, is designed to invent ways to restore levels of this protein in order to treat and even reverse type 2 diabetes.

 

 

 

Ventura Downtown Lions Host a New Year Jog-A-Thon
Earlier this year, the Ventura Downtown Lions hosted a jog-a-thon with a fitting title: Run Away From 2020! A total of 25 Lions, friends and family participated, raising $2,500 and allowing them to commit $1,000 to City of Hope’s Diabetes Innovation Fund. On top of the generous fundraising efforts, many of the participants tracked their steps and recommitted themselves to healthy activity in 2021, an important step in avoiding diabetes. A special thanks goes to Lion Maya Lazos, Lion Josh Spiker, PDG Lion Norm McDaniel, Lion Jason Laird, Lion Irma Morales and everyone who contributed to this event!