Age: 9
Age at T1D diagnosis: 6

Pro baseball player, pro basketball player, or T1D research scientist: those are some of the career options being considered by Evan. Right now, he’s a third grader who has read every Harry Potter book twice and is making his way through the Geronimo Stilton series. Evan is also a member of his church choir, and last year was chosen to be the narrator of the church’s Christmas play, telling the nativity story to an audience of more than 3,000 people. Evan and his family are participants in the Orange County Chapter’s JDRF One Walk. In his role as a JDRF Youth Ambassador, Evan has spoken at corporate events. “Research is important to me because scientists can make new devices that can help turn Type One into Type None,” says Evan. “If I lived 100 years ago, I probably would have died of diabetes because they didn’t know what insulin was. That is why research is important.”