Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is looking for nominations for its inaugural Leonard Award, which highlights advances in diabetes management. The company will select five winners and donate $100,00 to the non-profit Life for a Child, which provides medicines and supplies to children and youth with type 1 diabetes in developing countries.
Lilly is launching the award program to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin in 1921. Sir Frederick G. Banting, Charles H. Best and J.J.R. Macleod at the University of Toronto discovered the hormone in 1921. James B. Collip later purified it, giving rise to the first use of insulin to treat diabetes on January 11, 1922. The launch of commercial insulin occurred in 1923.
Lilly is accepting nominations until August 31. Nominees must submit an overview of an original project, innovation or effort beyond therapy. The project should either support the diabetes community or address a need or challenge related to diabetes management.
The company has enlisted the help of an external panel of judges who are experts in diabetes care to select winners.
The award program aims to recognize diverse champions dedicated to advancing diabetes management through innovative thinking and novel approaches in the following categories:
- Teen/young adult
- Advocate/advocacy professional
- Endocrinologist/primary care physician
- Diabetes educator/nurse
- Researcher
For each winner of the winners in those five categories, Lilly will donate $20,000 to Life for a Child.
The nomination form and more information about the award program are available on Lilly’s website.