Lakewood Hospital Nurse Presents at National Rally in D.C.

Lakewood Hospital nurse, Gina Gavlak, RN, BSN, shared her personal diabetes story at the national Rally for Medical Research in Washington D.C. on April 8. She is a member of the American Diabetes Association’s Board of Directors and chair of its National Advocacy Committee. 

Gavlak spoke on behalf of the 105 million Americans who have diabetes (26 million) and pre-diabetes (79 million) who are counting on the cutting edge research conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for  improved treatments and tools for diabetes prevention and management and for continued research to find a cure.   

Patient advocates, like Gavlak, members of Congress, television personalities and nearly 200 sponsoring organizations joined together to tell Congress to make funding for research at the National Institutes of Health a national priority. 

The rally was attended by thousands of people, passionate about the important role medical research plays in saving lives.   

Gavlak, who has been an active volunteer with the  American Diabetes Association (ADA) for nearly 20 years, has been living with type 1 diabetes since she was 10 years old. In her role with the ADA and as a registered nurse at Lakewood Hospital's Diabetes and Endocrine Center, Gavlak works everyday to treat and advocate on behalf of those living with diabetes.  

The overarching theme of the Rally for Medical Research was “More Progress. More Hope. More Life.”  Gavlak’s compelling story and call to action for all of us to be advocates for medical research will help to spur more progress, more hope, more life and ultimately advance the fight to Stop Diabetes. 

Gavlak resides in Sheffield Village with her family.