Pranav Raju was awarded HRE USA’s 2024 Youth in Action for Human Rights Award for Individual Achievement. In Summer 2025, Pranav served as the first HRE USA Youth Intern and developed an IRB-approved, statewide survey to gather family-centered insights on what matters most in K-12 education from learning environments and academic priorities to communication, inclusion, and access to services in line with HRE USA’s vision, goals, and priorities.
Experiencing firsthand the financial burden of health care and insulin for his own Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), Pranav Raju was inspired to take action to achieve affordable healthcare for all, especially persons living with this health challenge. He has worked with members of Congress to cap insulin prices, advocated for an affordable healthcare bill for seniors, and contributed to the renewal of the Special Diabetes Program, which funds diabetes research. As a Children’s Congress delegate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF, now known as Breakthrough T1D), Pranav testified before Congress, sharing his personal story and lobbying members of Congress for the successful passage of legislation to lower insulin costs. He created an Advocacy Toolkit to help others take action, share their stories, and influence policy, and he continues to work with both national and international health advocacy groups.
His work is also personal and local. At his local children’s hospital’s “Diabetes 101” trainings, he meets with newly diagnosed young people to encourage them with his personal experience and provide them with resources for their new journey. Mentoring other young people with T1D, he has encountered families unable to afford the life-saving medicine they need and having to choose between food and housing or insulin. As Pranav explains: “Seeing the financial and mental burden and suffering of these families pushed me to fight for change. No child or any human being should suffer or die because they cannot afford insulin.”
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