The Corner Booth

Many experts believe that diabetes care is ideally suited to telehealth, given the fact that glucose readings and other data guide disease management — and that can easily be jointly reviewed and discussed by doctors and patients over digital platforms. While there is mounting evidence that the explosion in telehealth due to COVID-19 is a boon to people with diabetes (PWDs), there's also a fight underway to make sure that new policies supporting this virtual care stay in place when the pandemic eventually subsides. New data on diabetes telehealth experiences In its 2020 State of Telemedicine Report published by physician network company Doximity , endocrinology got the top ranking for the specialty that's using telemedicine the most since the onset of COVID-19. Among the other findings is how Americans with chronic conditions like diabetes increased their use of telemedicine to 77 percent during the pandemic. This isn't surprising, and it confirms researc...

Dr. Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania isn't one to seek the spotlight. But as one of the two key researchers behind the science used to develop the first COVID-19 vaccines, his name has leapt into public view as of late 2020. Self-described as "just a basic scientist," Weissman is a modest man who has spent his lifetime devoted to research. He also happens to be living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for more than 50 years, spanning the two decades that he and his colleagues have spent digging into the vaccine-related research that's become so critical to public health at the moment. Weissman may not be advertising that he lives with T1D, but a recent photograph of him getting his own COVID-19 vaccine shot in mid-December tipped off the public that he's sporting an insulin pump on his belt. DiabetesMine spoke with Weissman by phone in early 2021, just as President Joe Biden took office and the scattered vaccine distribution was making...

Illustration by @llnere Have you ever imagined playing a being from outer space, flying around the far reaches of the galaxy, all while managing your type 1 diabetes (T1D) under a heavy load of prosthetics and makeup? Leave it to Noah Averbach-Katz , the New York-based 30-something actor who landed the role of the flaxen-haired, blue-skinned character Ryn on the third season of TV show "Star Trek: Discovery" streaming on CBS All Access. He's been living with T1D since 2003, when he was in eighth grade. He also happens to be married to fellow Discovery actor Mary Wiseman , who plays red-haired fan-fave character Ensign Tilley. The two met at the prestigious Juilliard School for performing arts. As a self-pronounced Trekkie since childhood, Averbach-Katz says being on the show is a dream come true and a career highlight. Fun fact: He originally auditioned for the legendary character Spock (famously played by the late Leonard Nimoy in the original 1970s ...

UPDATE: Tidepool received FDA clearance on Jan. 23, 2023 Tidepool Loop, a first-of-its-kind app that will connect with a variety of compatible insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to automate insulin dosing, has been submitted for FDA approval . This is big, Diabetes Friends, because new automated insulin delivery (AID) systems are the future of diabetes care, and because the Tidepool Loop project represents over two years of development work aimed at bringing do-it-yourself (DIY) "artificial pancreas" innovation into an official, FDA-regulated product that will be broadly available via the iOS app store. To date, the diabetes startup has focused on building a cloud-based platform that lets people collect and jointly review data from different glucose meters, insulin pumps, and CGMs. As of early 2021, that entails over 50 different devices along with the ability to upload and interact with that data. The new Tidepool Loop innovation continues ...

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...