TuDiabetes Live Interview with Doug Baum, making better glucagon with Xeris Pharmaceuticals

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Glucagon

The global diabetes epidemic is presenting enormous challenges for health care models around the world. While much of the focus remains on tight glycemic control, increased attention is being paid to the associated problems of hypoglycemia in these patients. Xeris is addressing both of these issues with the development of a stable, non-aqueous, injectable glucagon. Xeris has already developed a room-temperature-stable formulation which is being leveraged for multiple opportunities ranging from rescue pens for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia to pump-based formulations for use in an artificial pancreas.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Mary Rooney: clinical trial participant

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Mary Rooney, Participant in T Regulatory Cells (Treg) Clinical Study

“Living with type 1 diabetes is like having a second job with no days off,” says Mary Rooney, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in March 2011.

Having moved to San Francisco a year prior to finalize her doctorate in child psychology, Mary had to manage the stress of being diagnosed with a chronic disease without the benefit of nearby friends and family.

In researching type 1 diabetes, Mary learned that slowing the destruction of beta cells is critical to managing the disease, and she sought out clinical studies in this area. Through her job at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), she learned about three ongoing studies at UCSF’s Pediatric Diabetes Program investigating different approaches to preserving beta cell function, including one evaluating the T Regulatory Cells (Treg) immunotherapy. Mary was eligible for the study, and soon became the first human patient enrolled in the Treg clinical program.

In the study, Mary’s blood was drawn, and after 14 days she was reinfused with the expanded Treg cells. During 24 hours of observation, no adverse events were reported. Follow-up blood tests to measure C-peptide levels – an indicator of pancreatic islets beta cell function – continued for two years.

Today, at 38, Mary is healthy and works as a child psychologist. Managing her diabetes can be demanding, but Mary makes an effort every day to calculate her calorie intake, exercise and monitor her blood sugar. Three years after treatment with Treg, Mary is still in the “honeymoon phase,” the period of time following the onset of diabetes when the pancreas is still able to produce significant amounts of insulin. The “honeymoon phase” period varies for each individual, but seldom lasts more than one year.

Based on what she has learned about type 1 diabetes and Treg from physicians and researchers, Mary now believes that participating in the Treg study was one of the most important decisions she made – and she encourages others diagnosed with type 1 diabetes to investigate all their treatment options as soon as possible following diagnosis.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview – #MedicareCoverCGM: panel discussion

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Merle Gleeson, founder of Type 1 Diabetes Lounge

Merle was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1963, when medical conditions were not openly discussed and there was little support for families and children who were struggling with this disease. In 1997 Merle founded Type 1 Diabetes Lounge as a forum for education and support for adults with type 1 diabetes in the Chicago area.

Lynn Wickwire, Consumer advocate at Joslin Diabetes Center

Lynn Wickwired has been involved in health policy work for a decade. He is married with a son, daughter and 2 granddaughters. Lynn has lived with diabetes for 70 years and uses an insulin pump and CGM.

Richard Vaughn

Diagnosed with diabetes in 1945, after 69 years Richard has no severe diabetes-related complications. A former college math teacher, Richard has been married for 50 years, has 2 sons and 2 grandkids, and is a local celebrity on TuDiabetes for his longevity with diabetes and consistent, positive presence in the community. He eagerly helps fellow PWD on several online networks, including a facebook group for Joslin Gold Medalists, in addition to his friends on TuDiabetes.

Dan Fleshler, The Insulin Chronicles

Dan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1962, and for the next 50+ years he knew more details about the Boston Red Sox than about the inner workings of his body. In 2012 Dan decided to read everything he could about diabetes, hoping to learn about its link to depression, which had plagued him for much of his life. Read his blog to learn what happened next, and his recent article in Diabetes Mine about Medicare and CGM.

Joanne Milo, The Savvy Diabetic

Joanne has had Type 1 diabetes for over 48 years. When she was diagnosed, at the age of 11, the tools available to manage and control diabetes were minimal. Urine testing and animal insulin, no insulin pumps or HbA1c testing, and certainly no CGMS.

In the past 5 years Joanne has been hospitalized several times, and has written a book about surviving the system.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live interview with Steven, Devon and Grasshopper, creators of #NoPricks

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Prometheon Pharma launched it’s #NoPricks campaign in order to help bring it’s needle-free insulin delivery patch to market. Here’s their mission statement:

At Prometheon, we foresee persons with diabetes no longer needing to inject themselves daily with insulin. We envision vaccines that will not spoil in hot climates and can be administered easily, painlessly, and inexpensively to impoverished children in developing countries. We imagine once-weekly drug patches for mental health disorders and chronic diseases that maximize adherence to prescribed therapy by greatly simplifying drug regimens. We dream of fields and streams absent of medical waste because biodegradable products and manufacturing processes are created to protect the fragile ecosystems on our planet. Above all, we believe advances in drug delivery and new drug discovery can be made accessible to everyone in the world. At Prometheon, we are devoted to our mission and promise to advance global health equity and improve human existence through the pursuit and translation of scientific discovery.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

Live Interview with Grace Murphy, 10-year-old Bionic Pancreas trial participant

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Grace and her mom, Nancy, will be joining us fresh from Grace’s summer camp for kids with diabetes, where she got to try out the Bionic Pancreas for ONE WEEK!

Grace has had T1D since 2011 and uses an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor to manage her diabetes. Ever since she was diagnosed, she has continued to be very active in soccer, dance, and she has even completed two Triathlons and she plans to do more.

The Murphys met Dr. Ed Damiano at the 2014 Children with Diabetes – Friends for Life Conference in Orlando, FL after his wonderfully informative and inspiring presentation on the Bionic Pancreas. Nancy spoke with Dr. Damiano about Grace participating in his upcoming clinical trial for T1D children ages 6-11. Grace very bravely agreed to participate. The trial was scheduled to begin just two weeks later at the Clara Barton Camp in Massachusetts. Grace successfully completed the official screening process then Mama Murphy scrambled to make all the travel arrangements and get Grace enrolled at the camp. (It was a lot of work!)

On July 20th, Nancy dropped Grace off at Camp, where there were about 100 kids at camp, of which 12 girls were in the study. (A study with the boys will be coming up soon at Camp Joslin.)

Nancy also has type 1 diabetes, for almost 45 years, and can speak to the incredible advances in T1D care from the time of her diagnosis to Grace’s test-run of the BP!

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Paul Wicks, Vice President of Innovation at PatientsLikeMe

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An internationally recognized expert in the psychological aspects of neurodegenerative conditions, Paul is responsible for the scientific and medical validity of the PatientsLikeMe research platform. He leads a team of experts charged with conducting scientific research that generates insights from the personal health data shared by patient members. Under Paul’s direction, the PatientsLikeMe R&D team has produced numerous peer-reviewed publications in major scientific journals. These include Nature Biotechnology, Movement Disorders and European Journal of Neurology. In addition to working with the world’s foremost research organizations, the R&D team also provides professional services to the company’s commercial partners. Prior to joining PatientsLikeMe, Paul worked directly with patients from around the world to study cognition in rare forms of ALS and the psychological consequences of Parkinson’s disease. A frequent speaker on the power of personalized medicine in improving health outcomes, Paul has received numerous awards including the 2011 MIT Technology Review Humanitarian of the Year and the British Neuropsychiatry Association prize for best speaker, an honor he has won twice. Paul was named a TED Fellow in 2012, and in 2013 was a TED conference presenter. He completed his Ph.D. thesis at King’s College London at the age of 24.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Robert Geho: the Liver’s Role in Diabetes

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Robert Geho is a co-founder and CEO of Diasome Pharmaceuticals, Inc., focused on the clinical and commercial development of breakthrough therapies for diabetes and obesity. In his role at Diasome, he leads the management and strategic direction of the Company’s targeted insulin therapies, novel Type 2 diabetes technology, and oral therapy for obesity. In addition to his responsibilities at Diasome, he is a co-founder and director of SDG, Inc., a nanotechnology therapeutics company that is an Equity Partner Company of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Geho has led or co-led multiple rounds of financing for several biotechnology companies, and he has been a key participant in the formation of multiple life sciences focused companies. He received both his undergraduate degree and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Mr. Geho also serves as a member of the board of directors of the Diabetes Hands Foundation.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live interview with Dr. David Kerr: Traveling Safely with Diabetes

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Dr. Kerr was formerly the Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at the Bournemouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre in the United Kingdom, Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Southampton, and Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and for a number of years has held a Gold Clinical Excellence Award from the UK National Health Service (NHS).

In April 2014 Dr. Kerr will assume a new position as Research Director at Sansum Diabetes Research Institute. In this capacity Dr. Kerr will lead the diabetes research activities of the Institute, including research in artificial pancreas and pregnancy complicated by diabetes, two areas for which the Institute is internationally distinguished. In addition, Dr. Kerr will continue to pursue his research in the application of technology for diabetes care and the use of new methods of communications, including social media, to reduce the day-to-day decision-making burden for people living with diabetes, wherever they live.

Dr. Kerr is and will continue as Editor of Diabetes Digest in the UK and board member of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology. Recently he has also created free online resources, www.VoyageMD.com and www.Excarbs.com, the former dedicated to travel and diabetes and the latter focusing on exercise and insulin, as well as launching a smartphone app for people with diabetes complicated by painful neuropathy. Currently, Dr. Kerr is also working with the Diabetes Technology Society to create a certification program for health care professionals from outside of the US in the area of diabetes and technology.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Yishai Knobel Co-Founder and CEO of HelpAround.co

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Yishai Knobel is co-founder and CEO of HelpAround, the mobile safety net and peer support platform for people with chronic conditions.

Most recently, Yishai built the mobile-health business at Boston-based AgaMatrix, maker of iBGStar iPhone glucose monitor which is marketed today worldwide by Sanofi.

Before Agamatrix Yishai worked at Ray Ozzie’s Microsoft Startup Labs and prior to that he served 8 years in R&D leadership roles in the Israeli Army (captain). He has a BA in psychology and Computer Science, and MBA from the MIT Sloan school.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Special event: crowdfunding and diabetes innovation, a discussion with 3 inventors

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Let’s discuss the new wave of crowdfunding to support diabetes innovation with John Sjolund, of Timesulin, Simon Carter, of ManageBGL and Tom Houlihan, of Vitalpak.
Have you ever supported a diabetes-related cause, service or product on a site like IndieGoGo or GoFundMe?
If so, what inspired you to do so, and did you keep tabs on the the recipient of your support?
Do you think crowdfunding empowers people to decide what innovations are important, or is a way for organizations to get funding without the accountability required by other funding sources?
Join us to discuss these questions and more!

Simon Carter
Australian software engineer and ‘traveller nut’ Simon Carter, who has had type 1 diabetes for 25 years, has created a world-first method for predicting blood glucose levels. ManageBGL gives people with diabetes the calculation and tracking tools of an $8000 insulin pump.

Tom Houlihan
Tom and his son, Kyle, worked together to design/develop the Vitalpak, a true example of the napkin-drawing-to-final-product process. The Vitalpak is a medical backpack designed for those with Diabetes. They hope to bring this product to the retail market.

John Sjölund
John Sjölund is the CEO and co-founder of Patients Pending Ltd, a company created to help build innovative products for those with chronic conditions, in particular diabetes. John has lived with Type 1 diabetes since the age of four and, in 2009, gathered a team to create Timesulin, the company’s first product, aiming to help solve daily anxiety in an easy-to-use way.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Dr. Shai Gozani, Founder and CEO of Neurometrix

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Dr. Shai Gozani founded NeuroMetrix in 1996 and currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors and as our President and Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to forming the company, Dr. Gozani completed a neurophysiology research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Gerald Fischbach at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gozani has published articles in the areas of basic and clinical neurophysiology, biomedical engineering and computational chemistry.

The SENSUS Pain Management System, developed by Neurometrix, is a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator designed for people with diabetes and chronic pain. It is worn on one or both legs and is activated by simply pressing a button. SENSUS provides pain relief by stimulating the nerves that carry normal, non-painful sensations to the brain. Stimulation of these nerves changes the levels of certain natural chemicals in the nervous system that decrease pain.

Join us to learn more about this technology, now available to people with diabetes who experience painful neuropathy.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Avner Gal, developing GlucoTrack, a non-invasive glucose monitoring

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GlucoTrack uses ultrasonic, electromagnetic and thermal technologies to non-invasively measure glucose levels in the blood. GlucoTrack is intended for use by Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics.

GlucoTrack model DF-F main features:

Uses three different technologies simultaneously to increase accuracy;
Reliable results;
Complete set of data for each reading (user’s name/date/time/glucose level);
Long term of calibration validity;
Provides spot measurements;
Visual and verbal glucose readings;
Main Unit supports up to three users;
Comparable to a smart phone in size and weight;
Up to 1000 recent readings per user;
Readings history data in tabular and graphic formats;
USB communication for easy data downloading for back-up storage and analysis;
User Friendly: easy to operate, easy to read data, large color touch screen;
Repeatable audible result;
Reduced life cycle cost (less expensive than finger prick device in long term).

The GlucoTrack Story:
The desire to develop a non-invasive blood glucose monitor came initially from Integrity co-founder, late Dr. David Freger. David had diabetes and like many who suffer from this life long debilitating disease, David was sick and tired of pricking his fingers to draw blood for glucose measurements a few times each day. Together with two of his trusted colleagues, Avner Gal and David Malka, they set out to develop a non-invasive blood glucose monitor that could provide pain-free measurements.

Following years of intense research and development they determined that the technical challenges of increasing the signal to noise ratio, to obtain a reliable reading without drawing blood, could best be achieved by combining three independent technologies simultaneously. They developed Integrity’s proprietary and patented approach of using ultrasound, electromagnetic and thermal measurements with a unique algorithm to weigh each measurement and calculate the weighted average of the three readings.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube