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DCB Newsletter #3/24: The DCB Open Innovation Challenge is back!

DCB Newsletter #3/24: The DCB Open Innovation Challenge is back!

Dear community,

it’s that time of the year again…the DCB Open Innovation Challenge is back – and this time, it’s stronger than ever! Do you have an innovative idea to improve diabetes management with diabetes technology? Then continue reading and learn more about the challenge, important deadlines and what’s in it for you! 🚀

Can your idea change diabetes management forever?

Do you have an innovative idea to facilitate change diabetes management forever? Want to see how your idea becomes reality? Do you have valuable insights to help co-create the diabetes technology of tomorrow? Do you have feedback to share with others in the community?

We are looking for innovators, co-creators, scientists and diabetes supporters from around the world to join our open idea call and be part of an innovative community at the forefront of diabetes technology.

Now you might be thinking, “That’s great, but what does it have to do with diabetes?”. Most people would perhaps consider diabetes as the opposite of a rare disease when about 537 million people worldwide live with the disease, making it a prevalence of 1 in 10 [3].

However, most outlets usually only cover the most common type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. In reality, there are many other types which are considered rare types, and some of them are results of rare diseases. In this newsletter, we want to draw your attention to some of them, to honor all people living with diabetes – no matter how rare the type!

What’s in it for you?

  • the chance to win USD 100,000 in funding and in-kind support
  • a chance to participate in our one-week bootcamp with mentoring & co-learning, and a pitch training worth CHF 5,000
  • access to a network of experts from the Diabetes Center Berne, @Diabetes Technology Society, and others
  • a kick-start to your business with first class coaching and training
  • a safe harbour where your idea remains entirely yours

Everything at a glance – this is the timeline of our 2024 Innovation Challenge!

Ema Grabenweger, Innovation Manager at DCB and responsible for the challenge, says: “Our challenge is an excellent opportunity for anyone who would like to get expert guidance on their idea in diabetes technology. Through a carefully designed process we provide a compass for innovators on all levels to efficiently & successfully navigate the complex landscape of developing a medical product or solution to improve the lives of PwD. We do that by offering an open innovation platform for exchange with the community, connection to international experts and mentors who can support to shape the ideas, exposure to venture capitalists and experienced start ups, world-class bootcamp training in the beautiful Swiss Alps tailored to innovator needs. Additionally, the top 6 finalists get to present in front of >300 people in Switzerland and have the opportunity to win an award of USD 100,000 in cash and in-kind service. All of that while having fun! Join our community and make your idea dreams come true!”

Ready to become part of diabetes innovation?

All you have to do is register on our Innovation Platform at https://innovation.dcberne.com/ and submit your idea! All former participants (excluding the finalists) of the past years can also apply again, given their idea has been developed further since the last participation.

Idea submission is still open until April 30 – get the word out and apply! You can find more information on https://www.dcberne.com/en/innovation-challenge/

Whether you are a start-up, a healthcare professional, researcher or an individual, if you have an idea or insight on how to improve the lives of people with diabetes, we want to hear from you! Thank you so much for reading and see you soon for the next edition of the DCB Newsletter!

This post was previously published in Linkedin. Click here to see the original publication.

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* Pflichtfelder
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DCB Research AG

Freiburgstrasse 3
3010 Bern
Switzerland

Lisa Koch joins DCB as professor specialising in artificial intelligence and data science

Lisa Koch joins DCB as professor specialising in artificial intelligence and data science

Lisa Koch joins DCB as professor specialising in artificial intelligence and data science

The newly created assistant professorship with tenure track is the third of a total of three professorships in the field of “Diabetes Technology and Artificial Pancreas” jointly created by the University of Bern, the Inselgruppe and the Diabetes Center Berne (DCB).

Background in developing data science products for medical devices

Before taking up her new position, Lisa Koch worked on machine learning for biomedical data analysis. She has a background in academic research as well as developing data science products for medical devices, with a strong focus on technology that can ultimately benefit people’s health in a safe and trustworthy way.

After an undergraduate degree in electrical (BSc) and biomedical engineering (MSc) at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, Lisa Koch did a PhD in machine learning for medical image analysis at Imperial College London, UK.  After a post-doc at ETH Zürich, she joined the Swiss wearable medical device startup Ava, where she eventually became the data science team lead. In this position, she came to appreciate the need for demonstrably safe machine learning in healthcare.

Safe, reliable, and effective data science tools
In 2021, Lisa Koch returned to academic research to pursue research on this topic as a group leader for machine learning in medical diagnostics at the Hertie Institute for AI in Brain Health at the University of Tübingen, Germany. In her new role as assistant professor at the University of Bern, her long-term goal is to develop certifiably safe, reliable, and effective data science tools for patient-specific treatment systems in diabetes care.

“With my research, I strive to deliver trustworthy AI-enabled diabetes care that provides real benefit to patients and clinicians. I am thrilled to join the cross-disciplinary ecosystem at the Diabetes Center Berne and the University of Bern Clinic for Diabetology, Endocrinology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism (UDEM), an ideal environment to advance this vision” says Koch.

Derek Brandt, CEO of the DCB adds: “In addition to Lilian Witthauer, professor in the field of sensor technology, and José Garcia Tirado, professor for technology-assisted precision medicine, we have taken a third and important step with Professor Koch for the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science in diabetes care. This enables us to further strengthen our international pioneering role in the field of translational diabetes technology research. We will continue doing everything we can to improve daily life for people with diabetes”.

Lisa Koch

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Meet the Top 3 Digital Diabetes Solutions 2023!

Meet the Top 3 Digital Diabetes Solutions 2023!

Meet the Top 3 Digital Diabetes Solutions 2023!

The DCB Innovation Challenge 2023 is entering its next round in the category Digital Diabetes! After rigorous evaluation and deliberation, the jury chose the following three start-ups to move on to the bootcamp and finale! 

Meet our Top 3:

Bridget McNulty (SA): Solving diabetes education in Africa, using WhatsApp

Sweet Life has been creating easy-to-understand diabetes information for our community since we started in 2011, but over the past 3 years we’ve had a specific focus on testing out the most effective formats, language and languages (SA has 11 official languages). We now know how to solve diabetes education in South Africa and pave the way for it to be solved in Africa if we build the system in the right way. How? A WhatsApp chatbot.

Greg Badros (US): Gluroo – Collaborative Diabetes Logger

You already know how to use Gluroo: it’s a chat app! The messaging group is your GluCrew, and Gluroo provides high-quality integrations with CGMs and Pumps. Those integrations contribute to Gluroo’s diabetes Event Log – the GEL.  That GEL is shared and synchronized in real-time across all the devices so everyone can stay in sync, in real-time.

Katharine Kelly (UK): Spotlight-AQ − Improving Routine Diabetes Visits: Helping People with Diabetes Feel Heard and Doctors Feel Empowered to Care

Spotlight-AQ is a novel validated infographic assessment platform highlighting user priority concerns and immediate mapped resources to meet those unmet needs. Truly personalised healthcare. Deliverable by any healthcare professional, in any setting with any person with diabetes; Spotlight-AQ fits seamlessly within the constraints of existing healthcare systems and structures.”

We are looking forward to entering this next round of our Innovation Challenge: a one week bootcamp in the Swiss mountains  together with our three finalists in the category Diabetes Devices and the grand finale on 9 November!

    Download the PDF Overview

    Top 3 Digital Diabetes

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    DCB Research AG

    Freiburgstrasse 3
    3010 Bern
    Switzerland

    DCB Innovation Challenge: Meet the Top 3 Diabetes Devices 2023!

    DCB Innovation Challenge: Meet the Top 3 Diabetes Devices 2023!

    DCB Innovation Challenge: Meet the Top 3 Diabetes Devices 2023!

    The DCB Innovation Challenge 2023 is entering its next round in the category Diabetes Devices! After rigorous evaluation and deliberation, the jury chose these three start-ups to move on to the bootcamp and finale!

    Meet our Top 3:

    Greta Preatoni (CH): MY-SENSATION – Reducing pain and restoring touch in diabetic neuropathy through a fully wearable non-invasive neuromodulation system

    “We developed a unique wearable device that restores the sense of touch and decreases pain through a non-invasive electrical nerve stimulation driven by AI algorithms. Thanks to years of research, we achieved a carefully designed electrode placement and optimal stimulation parameters, that can target directly the nerves with a pleasant stimulation, hence reducing neuropathic pain by more than 40% after just one use.”

    Robert Wylie (IE): Fada Medical – 30-day insulin delivery technology

    “We are proud to unveil our new technology that we have developed that can extend an infusion set cannula’s performance for up to 30 days to support long term insulin pump use for people with type 1 diabetes. We use a first-of-its-kind method to successfully delivery a therapeutic, such as insulin, into subcutaneous tissue and past any blockage that can occur from the foreign body response.”

    Hélène Lefebvre (FR) : Eclypia – Non-Invasive continuous glucose monitoring

    “Eclypia is developing a unique non-invasive sensing platform targeting health and wellness. Its first product is a non-invasive Continuous Glucose Monitoring device built on outstanding new and disruptive photonics technologies. At Eclypia, we are driven by excellence and a multi-expertise global approach to tackle technological, physiological and algorithmic challenges.”

    We are looking forward to entering this next round of our Innovation Challenge: a one week bootcamp in the Swiss mountains and the grand finale on 9 November!

      Download the PDF Overview

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      DCB Research AG

      Freiburgstrasse 3
      3010 Bern
      Switzerland

      DCB Innovation Challenge: Top 20 Digital Diabetes Solutions

      DCB Innovation Challenge: Top 20 Digital Diabetes Solutions

      DCB Innovation Challenge: Top 20 Digital Diabetes Solutions

      The competition was fierce, and the decisions were not easy, as our evaluation committee received an overwhelming number of outstanding submissions. But these innovative solutions stood out among a highly competitive field of participants, and we are delighted to present the TOP 20 Digital Diabetes solutions of the DCB Innovation Challenge 2023!

      Meet the top 20 digital solutions of the DCB Innovation Challenge

      Joycelyn Cornthwaite (US): JoyCare – Right Data, Right Time, Right Recommendations, for better maternal and fetal outcomes

      “JoyCare provides a fast, efficient, and easy to implement digitalization of the care process. Alerts support communications to clinicians and patients using existing methods such as EHR messaging, voice calls, and smartphone push. Data-driven escalation procedures along with tracking and auditing help to coordinate resources towards efficient and effective diabetes management.”

      Leonard Rinser (GER): GLAICE – Empowering Exercise in Diabetes

      “Our digital solution is based on an algorithm that transforms medical research into accessible and easy-to-understand recommendations that are adjusted to the daily lifestyle and tailored to each person’s metabolism. Through this data- and evidence-based approach, GLAICE empowers informed decision-making for everyone with diabetes, supporting you to lead a healthy, active, and self-determined life – anytime, anywhere, and with more ease.”

      Jazz Sethi (IN): Back to Basics – A 360 Degree Education Program for Type 1 Diabetes

      “India’s healthcare system is overburdened. To combat this, we launched our flagship education project for 1:1 counselling called BACK-TO-BASICS (B2B). Any individual living with T1D or an immediate stakeholder (caregiver, friends & family etc.) can virtually meet with our team of facilitators to navigate daily management, discuss unconventional topics and walkthrough our educational resources. We provide unlimited B2B sessions at no charge, in 9+ languages with a qualified professional, also living with T1D.”

      Mridula Kapil Bhargava (IN): CareOll – The Ultimate Patient Advocacy Platform where every voice matters

      “An innovative platform that gives voice to Lived experiences of People with Diabetes (and other medical conditions) to facilitate advocacy, qualitative research, first-of-its-kind health education through stories using graphics and animojis with verified disease-related content by experts and patient advocates, and Health-content Checker from social media & messaging platforms.”

      Jock Schulz (GER): Welshare Health – Take back control of your health data!

      “Take back control of your health data! We are building a tool for you to personalize how you share your health information. That way you can control who has access to it. Whether you get sick while traveling and want to share a certain part of your health record with a doctor or if you want to contribute to medical research- you deserve to choose how your own data is shared. And if you’re interested, you can even monetize your contribution to earn your share.”

      Katharine Kelly (UK): Spotlight-AQ − Improving Routine Diabetes Visits: Helping People with Diabetes Feel Heard and Doctors Feel Empowered to Care

      “Spotlight-AQ is a novel validated infographic assessment platform highlighting user priority concerns and immediate mapped resources to meet those unmet needs. Truly personalised healthcare. Deliverable by any healthcare professional, in any setting with any person with diabetes; Spotlight-AQ fits seamlessly within the constraints of existing healthcare systems and structures.”

      Rob Howe (US): The Diabetes Creator Collective from Diabetics Doing Things

      “Founded in 2015, Diabetics Doing Things empowers, informs and inspires people and creators living with diabetes through storytelling, events and community. The Diabetes Creator Collective will create a sustainable ecosystem for creators with diabetes to grow diabetes awareness, fight diabetes stigma and provide a chance for more creators with diabetes to earn a living doing what they do best.”

      Stephane Alberth (CH): Aixa – Your Digital Diabetes Guide and Coach

      “Enter “Aixa”, your Digital Diabetes Expert Coach. Aixa can provide support along the entire patient journey with a friendly face and warm supportive conversation. In summary, Aixa can integrate the best knowledge and understanding of patient needs to create natural, delightful patient conversations that support them when they need it most, while reducing the workload on the limited available health practitioners.”

      Bridget McNulty (SA): Solving diabetes education in Africa, using WhatsApp

      “Sweet Life has been creating easy-to-understand diabetes information for our community since we started in 2011, but over the past 3 years we’ve had a specific focus on testing out the most effective formats, language and languages (SA has 11 official languages). We now know how to solve diabetes education in South Africa and pave the way for it to be solved in Africa if we build the system in the right way. How? A WhatsApp chatbot.”

      Sam Royston (US)Replica Health – A Search Engine & Conversational AI for T1D Data

      “We build an AI powered search engine for your metabolism, starting with an iOS app that allows diabetics to access their metabolic history to quickly answer questions relevant to their care. We’re working on a system that allows patients (and doctors) to ask detailed questions in plain English. Users receive answers directly via Large Language Models that infer what the user wants and triggers a corresponding analysis of data streams generated by medical devices and smartphones.”

      Susa Horvath (GER): ZenZen –  Empower Mothers, Nurture Future

      “The innovation of our product is to provide medical knowledge transfer with the help of a digital product to offer 24/7 available medical and emotional support to pregnant women with GDM. With the help of Generative AI technology, we can offer continuous support beyond the scope of traditional medical professional/patient relationships, addressing the full complexity of GDM, including areas such as mental health, exercise, and sleep.”

      Greg Badros (US): Gluroo – Collaborative Diabetes Logger

      “You already know how to use Gluroo: it’s a chat app! The messaging group is your GluCrew, and Gluroo provides high-quality integrations with CGMs (Dexcom, Libre, and also anything that writes CGM values into Apple HealthKit or Nightscout) and Pumps (DIY Loop, Omnipod 5, and also anything that writes into Apple HealthKit or Nightscout). Those integrations contribute to Gluroo’s diabetes Event Log – the GEL.  That GEL is shared and synchronized in real-time across all the devices so everyone can stay in sync, in real-time.”

      Alejandro Clarós (ES): Using the power of AI to Predict and Prevent Metabolic Syndrome and its Comorbidities

      “Higia’s AI solutions provide personalized healthcare by analyzing patient data from multiple sources to identify individual risk factors and predict the likelihood of developing certain conditions. This enables patients and healthcare professionals to take proactive measures to prevent or manage chronic diseases by providing tailored recommendations and intervention opportunities.”

      Gayathri Badrinath (US): Devyn – Simplifying Life with Gestational Diabetes

      “We have developed a first-of-its kind mobile app for GDM that drastically simplifies the patient experience associated with daily self-monitoring during pregnancy and keeps women  in control of their care journey. Our early results are exceptional with extremely high engagement rates.  After pregnancy, we aim to connect our users with medical experts in women’s cardiometabolic health through a virtual visit.”

      Leo Rifkind (UK): Huddle Health – Achieving Improved Diabetes Health Outcomes by Evidence-Based Mental Health Therapy

      Huddle Health will be a mobile application that facilitates improved physical health outcomes in diabetes via mental health strategies. It will have a desktop dashboard for Huddle Health administration and Providers to track their patients and carry out appointments.”

      Matt Payne (US): No More “Ozempic Butt” – Metabolic Lifestyle Therapy For GLP-1

      “Our idea is to complement diabetes and obesity medications like Ozempic and Wegovy with a metabolic support program delivered digitally.”

      Jayne Budd (UK): Know your risk of CKD with CSP!

      “The CKD Screening Prioritizer (CSP) is digital software that contains an intelligent risk calculator. The healthcare professional can access it via our web portal, or it can be integrated into electronic medical records systems.  It is designed to support targeted Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) screening (eGFR diagnosis) stratifying the patients by risk so that those most at risk are sent for diagnosis allowing for more efficient resource allocation.”

      Elena Paraschiv (RO): Glyco – Your Path to Optimal Diabetes Wellness

      “Introducing Glyco, the innovative diabetes management app that’s changing the game. Our app offers a comprehensive solution that goes beyond traditional diabetes management tools, providing users with personalized recommendations, nutrition management, mental health support, complication screening telemedicine, and more. Our cutting-edge app integrates a suite of features that make it easy for users to manage their blood glucose levels, stay on top of their nutrition, connect with medical professionals when needed and support networks.”

      Robert Maurer (US): The right drug for the right patient – enabling delivery of standard of care drug selection in routine practice

      “We have developed a commercially available analytical report, based on our living expert system reporting platform, which provides physicians with guidance to aid in choosing the optimal treatment regimen for diabetes patients. In addition to glucose control, the TIGAR™ report incorporates insulin resistance, beta-cell condition, cardiovascular disease and kidney condition, all of which impact diabetes care. The result of this personalized therapy is that everyone wins in the first year– doctor, patient, payer, and lab.”

      Inka Benthin (GER): GlucoFit Digital assistant for optimizing insulin therapy

      “Introducing GlucoFit, the blood sugar management navigation system that provides automatic and timely information, to free individuals from constantly thinking about their diabetes. By intelligently integrating existing data, GlucoFitidentifies the causes of recurring highs and lows in blood sugar levels and derives actionable advice about therapy adjustments. With a patient-centered approach, this innovative application strengthens therapy adherence and promotes long-term health.”

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      DCB Research AG

      Freiburgstrasse 3
      3010 Bern
      Switzerland