Lilly announces winners of inaugural Leonard Award, a global program celebrating 100 years of innovation in diabetes care

Ahead of World Diabetes Day on November 14, Lilly has pledged $100,000 to Life for a Child in recognition of the five selected winners

News provided by

Eli Lilly and Company

Nov 11, 2021, 08:30 ET

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced the five winners of the inaugural Leonard Award, which commemorates the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of insulin by recognizing diverse champions dedicated to advancing diabetes management. Lilly is giving $20,000 in recognition of each winner ($100,000 total) to Life for a Child, a global non-profit organization that provides access to care, education and lifesaving medicines and supplies to children and young people with type 1 diabetes in resource-limited countries.

The Leonard Award was inspired by the life of Leonard Thompson, the first person with diabetes to be treated with insulin in 1922, and celebrates ongoing achievements in the diabetes community. The 2021 Leonard Award winners and their categories are:

Teen/young adult: Drew Mendelow of Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, for work developing the T1D1 app, which helps people with diabetes calculate and log key metrics and easily send data to their diabetes care team.
Advocate/advocacy professional: Sana Ajmal, PhD of Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan, for work as the founder and executive director of Meethi Zingagi, a non-profit organization that aims to improve the lives of people with diabetes.
Endocrinologist/primary care physician: Giuseppina Chierici, MD of Milano, Italy, for work starting, "Portiamo a casa un sorriso," a project that provides free medical home care assistance and advice for people with diabetes in need.
Diabetes educator/nurse: Vanita Pais, RD, CDE of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for work on food skills programs and workshops for children with type 1 diabetes.
Researcher: James Shapiro, MD, PhD of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for work developing the Edmonton Protocol for islet cell transplantation, which has been carried out more than 700 times and aims to improve the care of people with diabetes.

The winners from each category were selected by an external judges' panel comprised of esteemed leaders in diabetes care. The panel evaluated more than 70 submissions of an original project, innovation or effort that addresses either an important need or challenge in the management of diabetes or aims to support the community.

"On this upcoming World Diabetes Day, and in honor of the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, Lilly is proud to present the inaugural Leonard Award to five exceptional individuals within the diabetes community who are making strides to advance diabetes management," said Leonard Glass, MD, F.A.C.E., vice president of Lilly Diabetes Global Medical Affairs and Leonard Award judge. "The strength of this community comes from the dedication of those within who work to make a positive impact on the lives of others, and we are honored to recognize this outstanding group."

The Leonard Award external judges' panel included the following:

Tadej Battelino, MD, PhD, Consultant and Head of Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology, UMC Ljubljana
Amalia Gastaldelli, Research Director, Institute of Clinical Physiology, CNR
Mariana Gomez, Director, Emerging Markets, Beyond Type 1
Irl B. Hirsch, MD, Professor of Medicine, UW Medicine Diabetes Institute
Nicole Johnson, DrPH, MPH, MA, Vice President, Science & Health Care, American Diabetes Association
Sarah Linklater, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, JDRF Canada
Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM, RADM, USPHS (Retired)
Anna Norton, MS, CEO, DiabetesSisters
Navnit (Niti) Kaur Pall, MD, President, International Diabetes Federation Europe
Leonard Glass, MD, F.A.C.E., Vice President, Lilly Diabetes Global Medical Affairs, Eli Lilly and Company

The panel reviewed entries based on several criteria, including impact, novelty, feasibility and ability to advance Lilly's mission of life-changing care for people impacted by diabetes. In recognition of the winning projects, Lilly will be giving $100,000 total to Life for a Child to help provide care for youth with diabetes around the world.

"We are honored to be the beneficiary of the outstanding work exhibited by the Leonard Award winners. I'm thankful for and inspired by the outstanding efforts of these individuals and their dedication to making a difference for people living with diabetes," said Dr. Graham Ogle, general manager of Life for a Child. "This contribution from Lilly will further support our mission of providing the best possible diabetes care to children in less-resourced countries and will help build a world where children with diabetes thrive no matter what situation they are born into."

To learn more about the Leonard Award, the winning individuals and their work, please visit Lilly.com/LeonardAward. Lilly plans to continue the Leonard Award Program through 2023.

About Diabetes
Approximately 34 million Americans¹ (just over 1 in 10) and an estimated 463 million adults worldwide² have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type internationally, accounting for an estimated 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases in the United States alone². Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body does not properly produce or use the hormone insulin.

About Lilly Diabetes
Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world's first commercial insulin. Today we are building upon this heritage by working to meet the diverse needs of people with diabetes and those who care for them. Through research, collaboration and quality manufacturing we strive to make life better for people affected by diabetes and related conditions. We work to deliver breakthrough outcomes through innovative solutions—from medicines and technologies to support programs and more. For the latest updates, visit http://www.lillydiabetes.com/ or follow us on Twitter: @LillyDiabetes and Facebook: LillyDiabetesUS.

About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global health care leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at lilly.com and lilly.com/newsroom. P-LLY

Lilly Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about Lilly's Leonard Award, including its objectives, selection criteria, nomination process, intended donations, and related activities, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. There can be no assurance that the Leonard Award will achieve Lilly's objectives or that Lilly will execute its strategy as planned. For further discussion of risks and uncertainties relevant to Lilly's business, see Lilly's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; 2020.
International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 9th edn. Brussels, Belgium: International Diabetes Federation, 2019. Available at: http://diabetesatlas.org.

Refer to: Becky Polston; [email protected]; 317-796-1028 (Media)

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company