Agoura Teen Heads to Washington D.C. to represent Children's Congress for Juvenile Diabetes

Brandon Kosikov, 16, has been selected by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to join 150 other children from around the country to remind the members of congress of the vital need to continue supporting research that aims to reduce the burden of living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) until a cure becomes available.

"I'm very excited to be a part of this," said Kosikov.

The Agoura Hills teen was diagnosed with the illness at the age of 14. He has since started his own charity, Living on Insulin, which raises money for the JDRF and diabetes research.

"A group of friends from Viewpoint and I started selling silicon bracelets [imprinted with the slogan “Dia-Beat-This], and we've raised more than $3,500," he said.

For his next endeavor, Kosikov has organized a charity golf tournament to be held at the Braemar Country Club in Tarzana on July 29.

Kosikov admits that living with the illness forces him to be extra vigilant of his health.

“Though living with type 1 diabetes has been at times hard, annoying, and frustrating, it has really helped me grow as a person," he said in a press release for JDRF. "Type 1 diabetes has required me to take complete and constant responsibility for my health.” 

Kosikov will be joining other children representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia to visit the nation’s capital as delegates of the JDRF 2013 Children’s Congress from July 8 to 10.

"We'll be meeting with elected officials to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes and to discuss the importance of raising funds to find a cure," he said.

Joining the U.S. kids will be six international delegates traveling from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The international delegates will partner with U.S. delegates to convey a clear message to the U.S. government that T1D is a global problem that requires a global effort. 

The event, held every other summer, will once again be led by JDRF International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore and will include congressional visits by the delegates and a Senate hearing, during which Moore and select delegates and advocates will testify on the need for continued funding for T1D research, under the theme of “Promise to Remember Me.” This theme serves as a powerful call to lawmakers to remember the struggle of living with the disease and the importance of supporting and funding T1D research. 

“These outstanding children and their families all understand, as I do, that type 1 diabetes tests us every day,” Moore, who has had T1D for more than 40 years, said in the press release. “Children’s Congress gives all of us a voice to urge Congress to increase its support of research, which is essential to reducing the burden of this disease on us and on our country.”