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The American Diabetes Association's annual conference, known as the ADA Scientific Sessions , is always the biggest diabetes event of the year, and 2021 marked the second time this 5-day congress was held completely online because of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. When held in person, the conference normally convenes roughly 16,000 physicians, researchers, and diabetes industry experts from across the globe. This 81st annual event drew 11,600 people from 119 countries between June 25 and 29 — slightly lower than the 12,527 registered attendees for the 2020 virtual event. For both, the event organizers expected more people to tune in afterward, thanks to the recorded online sessions being made available for up to 3 months following the conference. Despite its virtual nature, this year's conference included nearly 200 presentations with more than 900 presenters on any range of topics. And to top it off, there were roughly 1,100 research posters delving into the latest ...

Dr. Denise Faustman is known in many circles as one of the most controversial figures in type 1 diabetes (T1D) cure research . She's raised millions of dollars and waves of hope with her work but has also been effectively shunned by the research community. Yet she barrels forward with her innovative vaccine-based approach to a cure, never letting naysayers deter her. This is her story. Motivated as a child Born in Royal Oak, Michigan , Dr. Faustman now leads the Immunobiology Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School in Boston.  As a child, Faustman recalls how much she disliked her pediatrician’s general tone and approach. “He was really severe and didn’t talk much,” says Faustman. “I thought I could do a better job than this guy.” And so she set out to become a doctor, doing a great deal of research throughout high school and college. Over the course of a decade after college, Faustman earned her MD, PhD, and post...

Like everything else in 2020, the biggest diabetes conference of the year was anything but normal. The American Diabetes Association's 80th annual Scientific Sessions were, for the first time ever, held completely online as a sprawling, fast-paced, virtual streaming experience. Thousands of medical professionals from across the globe tuned in for the five-day event, June 12 through 16, many in casual clothes rather than professional conference attire — from their kitchens, living rooms, and home offices with curious kids, home decor, and pets popping in occasionally. So it goes in 2020, as the world navigates the ripple effects of a global pandemic that's catapulted us into virtual business and telehealth mode. The SciSessions have been held as a huge in-person gathering consecutively since the org's founding in June 1940, with the single exception during World War II when the conference was not held. "There was a lot of trepidation about what this yea...

A business making plastic bottles may not be the most obvious connection to diabetes cure research, but in fact a family-run company has a 25-year history of supporting the Miami-based Diabetes Research Institute (DRI). In fact, much of the DRI's work is supported by Biorep Technologies, run by a family impacted by diabetes, that makes essential equipment for the diabetes research community. Biorep is actually a spinoff of the original plastic bottle company established by Florida diabetes dad Ramon Poo (pronounced Poe), and it's now one of the leading medical equipment suppliers in the world. You might be fascinated to learn that one of the key pieces of equipment created by this company and used by the DRI (and in islet research worldwide) made an appearance in a Grey’s Anatomy episode a few years back. The DRI connection was fueled by Poo’s daughter Cristina, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 3 in the mid-70s. Not long after her diagnosis, Ramon and his wife Tin...