Triathlon

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Support Our Cause
Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center

PLEDGE ONLINE (Coming Soon)
Printable Pledge Form

Race To Eliminate Autoimmune Diseases

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is an international leader in immune system and autoimmune disease research. The Institute translates scientific discoveries into real life applications. BRI is one of the few research institutes in the world focused on finding causes and cures for autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and many others.

By joining in the Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon at Seafair, your donations will help the millions of people and their families affected by autoimmune disease. This research is especially important in the Pacific Northwest because several autoimmune diseases are more common here.

Arthritis

Arthritis has remained one of the most prevalent chronic conditions in the United States and a leading cause of disability. It affects more than 46 million American adults and nearly 300,000 children. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints leading to pain, deformities and a loss of mobility. At BRI, research programs study the cells which regulate this damage in an effort to learn about disease mechanism and translate these findings into innovative therapeutic targets. BRI also conducts clinical trials to evaluate novel therapies in these diseases.

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, often disabling, autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks myelin, a substance that surrounds and protects the nerve fibers in the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. In the United States today, there are approximately 400,000 people with MS and 200 more people are diagnosed every week. BRI has a strong MS clinical research program with extensive experience in local and national clinical trials including studies with the most recent and dramatically efficacious immunotherapies. A new laboratory at BRI focused on immunological mechanisms of multiple sclerosis opened at the end of 2009.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes develops when the body's immune system mistakenly destroys pancreatic beta cells, the cells that make insulin. Insulin is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. This form of diabetes usually strikes children and young adults, although disease onset can occur at any age. Each year more than 15,000 children are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The goal of the Diabetes Research Program at BRI is to help families with Type 1 diabetes by investigating ways to prevent diabetes, finding new approaches of diagnosing the disease in its earliest stages to optimize the potential for successful treatment, and testing innovative new therapies. A current emphasis is immune intervention to preserve insulin secretion in individuals newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Working together with patients, families, and physicians, the scientists at the Benaroya Research Institute have brought innovative medical advances to the Pacific Northwest, the nation and the world. Community support and philanthropy sustains and speeds this effort.

We welcome your participation in the Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon at Seafair to advance our efforts to improve the lives of millions challenged by autoimmune diseases.

Race in Honor of a Loved One
Support your family members and friends who are battling these debilitating diseases by wearing a ?Racing in Honor of? color-coded wristband for a suggested donation of $10. Three colors of wristbands will be available at the Triathlon Expo and at the event. All of the funds raised will support Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis research at BRI.

For more information on the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason visit BenaroyaResearch.org