We have a new color and shape in our Label Jars not People shirt. We now carry it in lavender in a woman’s style. The sleeves are shorter, the waist a bit nipped in, and the shirt itself is a bit shorter – all for a more feminine look. Best of all, it is the same price as the yellow shirt. We are carrying it is sizes small to 3x. If you want it bigger we will be glad to special order it for you.
Because we want to encourage sales of this new shirt, we are going to be giving $3.00 to ONE21for each shirt sold.
ONE21 is a new, community wide initiative of parents, researchers, and other advocates for Down syndrome coming together for a common goal: to give DS research the support –and voice–that it so urgently needs. To help advance DS research to the next level, ONE21 is supporting the development of a dedicated and centralized DS biobank that will be open to all DS researchers, regardless of institutional affiliation.
A biobank is a large medical-grade refrigeration unit used to store high-quality samples of blood, tissue, DNA, and other specimens researchers need to build a more thorough understanding of DS. It is a critical tool in advancing research in speech and communications, congenital heart defects, childhood leukemia, early cognitive decline, thyroid issues, and others.
Toward that end, on September 6, 2013, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the first national Down syndrome registry as a resource for connecting researchers with families and self-advocates willing to participate in research and clinical trials. Called “DS-Connect,” the NIH Down syndrome registry will also help researchers improve our overall understanding of DS as a condition with the health histories, symptoms, and diagnosis information that families voluntarily provide.
For decades, DS researchers have lacked commonplace tools and capabilities necessary to advance their work to the next level, including a national DS registry. Without them, we can’t move from basic research to clinical trials to drug therapies or best practices that can meaningfully improve the quality of life for people with DS.
