Episode 28: Diabetes at SXSW

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Diabetes made an appearance at the SXSW Interactive Festival last week in a panel called “Smashing ‘One Size Fits All’ Diabetes Care At Last.” Scott Johnson shares his thoughts about and reflections on being part of this panel. Also on the panel were Dr. Justin Wright of Lilly, Kelly Close of the diaTribe Foundation, and Manny Hernandez of Livongo Health.

Medical technology, also referred to as medtech, promises to make massive amounts of data available to the individual about his or her state of health. It might even enable individualized management of chronic conditions like diabetes, moving us away from a one-size-fits-all approach. This is the starting point for this episode where Scott and Corinna touch on the promise of more real-time health data, data overwhelm, the need for training to understand the data, CGMs, patient access, putting people first, and more.

Everybody Talks Diabetes Podcast Corinna Cornejo

Episode 25: Spare a Rose, Save a Child

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In this special episode Corinna Cornejo speaks with Scott Johnson about the genesis of Spare a Rose, Save a Child.

You may know Scott as the US Communications Lead for MySugr or from his Scott’s Diabetes blog. He’s also a founding member of Partnering for Diabetes Change (also known as P4DC), the organization behind this annual fundraising campaign that supports the International Diabetes Federation‘s Life of a Child program.

In the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day Spare A Rose, Save A Child asks you to consider giving your sweetheart one less rose and donating the cost of that bloom to the Spare A Rose, Save A Child campaign. By donating US$5 you will keep a child with diabetes in the developing world alive by supporting the International Diabetes Federation’s Life of a Child program. Commit to a recurring monthly donation of US$5 and you will keep a child alive for the whole year.

Go to www.SpareARose.org/give to donate via PayPal.


Everybody Talks Diabetes Podcast Corinna Cornejo

Episode 24: Afrezza User

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If every there was a rock star diabetes drug, Afrezza is it.

In this episode Corinna Cornejo speaks with Emily Coles about how the inhalable insulin Afrezza has captured the imagination of the diabetes patient community and its impact on the diabetes treatment landscape.

We also share highlights from a live interview with Sam Finta, aka AfrezzaUser. Sam spent years being as careful as possible and feeling like “giving up” on his diabetes. Severe depression and anxiety inspired him to seek better means of diabetes treatment. He was fortunate to obtain one of the last openings in MannKind’s Afrezza drug trial in Atlanta through Dr. Bruce Bode of the Atlanta Diabetes Center. Since then, Sam has provided honest, genuine, and truthful information about his experiences with Afrezza via social media ( on Yahoo message Boards, blogspots and others) .

You can find the complete interview with Sam Finta in our archives.

Everybody Talks Diabetes Podcast Corinna Cornejo

Episode 17: Gastric Bypass Surgery

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In this episode Corinna Cornejo and Emily Coles discuss gastric bypass surgery, also known as bariatric surgery. What does this treatment for morbid obesity entail? And how did one person make the decision to undertake bariatric surgery?

Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 95% of all cases of diabetes, with obesity being the primary cause. Current approaches to managing type 2 diabetes include lifestyle intervention (weight loss, food choices, exercise) and medications. Registered Nurse Heidi C. Hartmann-Rothe will highlight how bariatric surgery can be a powerful tool for weight loss for appropriate candidates. Gastric bypass surgery may improve type 2 diabetes, and may enable some people with type 2 diabetes to go off certain medications. Heidi will share her own journey with type 2 diabetes and life after bariatric surgery.

Heidi C. Hartmann-Rothe has been a Registered Nurse for more than 15 years, is a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach, and is currently pursuing her Masters of Science in Diabetes Education and Management at Teachers College Columbia University. She volunteers for Health and Hospitals Corporation in the Diabetes TeleHealth Program and is working toward becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator. Heidi also volunteers at Columbia-Harlem Homeless Medical Partnership, a free medical clinic run by medical students for the uninsured/underinsured/homeless in Harlem, where she is providing diabetes education and building a Diabetes Education Program. Heidi lives in midtown Manhattan, New York, with her husband and two very spoiled cats.

Make a donation to Diabetes Hands Foundation by going to: https://www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org/donate

Everybody Talks Diabetes Podcast Corinna Cornejo

Advances in glucagon with Locemia Solutions

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Locemia Solutions is a Canadian-based pharmaceutical development company, which sole focus is on innovating the rescue treatment of severe hypoglycemia. The team at Locemia is working on providing people with diabetes and those that touch their lives, with a simple, needle-free glucagon rescue product for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia, which would be easy to teach, easy to carry and easy to use – helping to expand the number of people who feel confident in dealing with the unpredictability of hypoglycemia, and providing peace of mind for people who use insulin every day. Locemia’s passion and promise – driven by its members personal involvement and investment in the diabetes community – is to fill an unmet need through innovation, awareness and empowerment—rooted in needle-free simplicity,  for everyone to be able to help anyone—quickly and easily— deal with severe low blood sugar.

TuDiabetes Live interview with Dr. Todd Hobbs, Chief Medical Officer for Novo Nordisk

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Todd Hobbs, MD, is chief medical officer (CMO) for Novo Nordisk in North America. In this role, Dr. Hobbs focuses on the implications of diabetes for the company and for patients, for healthcare professionals and for healthcare systems. He provides medical guidance and input to the clinical development and life cycle management strategies for diabetes and obesity-related projects, as well as input into the R&D pipeline and participate in consultant advisory boards.

Dr. Hobbs began his career at Novo Nordisk in 2004 as a Field Medical Scientific Director. In 2010, he moved to the in-house position of Senior Medical Director of Diabetes. Prior to being named North American CMO, he led Medical Affairs activities for all insulin products and devices at Novo Nordisk, including strategy and tactical activities in support of current and future products.

Dr. Hobbs is a physician with a clinical focus in Diabetes. After internship and residency, he established his clinical practice focusing on the intensive management of patients of all ages with diabetes. During his 10 year clinical career based in Louisville, Kentucky, he cared for more than 2,500 adults and children with diabetes, including outpatient, inpatient and intensive care patients. During his clinical practice, he also served as Chairman of the Medicine Department for Baptist Hospital Medical Center in Kentucky.

“At Novo Nordisk, we are intensely focused on the patient experience and are committed to finding solutions to help those living with diabetes achieve their goals,” said Anne Phillips, MD, senior vice president, clinical medical & regulatory affairs for Novo Nordisk. “As a patient and parent of a child living with diabetes, Todd brings a unique perspective and shares our passion for patient centricity.”

His personal dedication to the treatment of diabetes began nearly 25 years ago when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and intensified with the diagnosis of one of his sons with the same condition at the age of 5.

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

TuDiabetes Live interview with Dr. Jody Stanislaw: "The Naturopathic Approach to Diabetes"

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Dr. Jody Stanislaw earned her doctorate in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University – the nation’s premier holistic medical school. She treats today’s most common health issues using natural remedies, with a special interest in helping those, like herself, living with Type 1.
Dr. Jody’s patients report life-changing improvements to not only their health, but in their level of happiness and satisfaction with their lives. She looks beyond just the symptoms at hand and dives deeply into all key areas that affect one’s overall wellbeing. She works as a virtual health consultant with patients via phone or Skype, and her popular E.A.S.Y. Lifestyle Transformation Program has improved lives all across the country.

The Naturopathic Approach to Diabetes:
To live a long and happy life with diabetes, having good blood sugars is important, but there is more to it than that alone. In today’s interview, Dr. Jody will be presenting the Four Essential Pillars of Health, four key areas that every person, diabetic or not, needs to have strong habits in in order to optimize health and longevity.

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

TuDiabetes Live interview with Jennifer Smith RD, LD, CDE "Diabetes and Pregnancy"

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Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Nutrition and Biology from the University of Wisconsin. She is a Registered (and Licensed) Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, and Certified Trainer on most makes/models of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring systems. She is an active member of the American Diabetes Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators and was an active member and educator for Team WILD (We Inspire Life with Diabetes). She is also a contributing author for the Diabetes Sisters website. Jennifer currently works as Director of Lifestyle and Nutrition for Gary Scheiner at Integrated Diabetes Services.

Jennifer has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 13. She has first-hand knowledge of the numerous day-to-day events that affect diabetes management. In 2008 she attended a diabetes-specific sports training camp where she discovered her passion for achieving her personal fitness goals while living healthfully with diabetes. In 2009 she successfully completed her first 70.3, Half Ironman triathlon. This brought a deeper understanding of athletic training requirements when living with diabetes as well as the importance of nutrition to realize athletic goals. Jennifer has completed numerous half marathons, long distance cycling events (many for the ADA’s Tour de Cure) and completed her first full marathon in January 2014.

Jennifer and her husband Nathan share their home with their son Oskar (12/20/12), their new puppy Franklin and cat Cornelius. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys running, cycling, swimming, yoga, and kayaking. A culinary “experimenter”, she is fond of cooking and baking, with an eye on vegetarian and allergen free food options. As a talented dietitian, diabetes educator, athlete, new Mom and person with diabetes, she is in a unique position to assist clients with intensive diabetes management.

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

TuDiabetes Live Interview with Harith Rajagopalan, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Fractyl

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Fractyl is a Massachusetts based company who is working on the first procedure to directly treat the underlying digestive causes of insulin resistance in patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. Basically, the procedure is designed to treat the root cause of the disease by resurfacing the damaged lining of the upper intestine (duodenum). The goal is to reset the hormone regulation and improve glucose control with the potential to make type 2 diabetes a treatable digestive disease instead of a lifelong, chronic struggle.

Dr. Harith Rajagopalan is Co-founder and CEO of Fractyl, having started the company while serving as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at General Catalyst Partners. Prior to founding Fractyl, Harith was an academic cardiologist and physician-scientist. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Stanford University and went on to obtain M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. At Johns Hopkins, Harith did groundbreaking and award-winning research on intestinal cancers that was published in top medical journals, including Nature and Science. After medical school, Harith trained in internal medicine and clinical cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and completed a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

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

TuDiabetes Live interview with Dr. Korey Hood: "Diabetes and Sex, for Men"

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Korey K. Hood, PhD works closely with people with diabetes in clinical, research, and advocacy settings. For this particular discussion entitled “Diabetes and Sex, for Men,” it helps that Dr. Hood is a guy and happens to have type 1 diabetes. Dr. Hood’s academic position is at Stanford University School of Medicine where he is a Professor and Staff Psychologist. At Stanford, he directs NIH- and foundation-funded research projects and provides clinical care aimed at promoting health and quality of life outcomes. Much of this work focuses on building positive coping and problem-solving skills to prevent diabetes distress and depression, and increasing the uptake of diabetes technologies and social media. He is the chair of the American Diabetes Association’s Behavioral Medicine and Psychology Interest Group, helps direct programming for JDRF and Children With Diabetes events, and stays active in the diabetes online community.

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

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

Live interview with Pediatric Endocrinologist Shara Bialo

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Shara Bialo is a board-certified pediatrician and is currently in her final year of Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship training at Brown University. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 9 years of age and has experienced her share of diabetes-related ups and downs. Ultimately, it helped shape her decision to pursue medicine and she now draws on her experience as both a patient and a physician to help others navigate life with diabetes.

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