Dr. Shaukat M. Sadikot from India is the President of the International Diabetes Federation 2016-2017, and President of DiabetesIndia. Presently working as a Consultant in Endocrinology at the Jaslok Hospital and Research Center, Mumbai, he has been actively involved with the cause of diabetes and associated metabolic disorders for the past 30 years.
He has been closely associated with the activities of IDF for many years and is a member of the IDF Task Force on Insulin, Test strips and Other Diabetes Supplies, the IDF Consensus Group on the Prevention of Prediabetes, Diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome, and the IDF Consensus group on Diabetes and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. Presently, he is working on the interactions between phytochemicals and chemokines on the endothelium.
Dr. Sadikot is the editor of the International Scientific Journal “Diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews”. He has written four books and has 87 publications to his credit.
Shilo is CEO and co-founder of Smartzyme Biopharma. The company’s Provolution™ technology combines some of the most advanced scientific tools for protein engineering, computational biology and electrochemistry. Smartzyme aims to develop a novel biosensor for subcutaneous continuous glucose reading – The Go Patch GO ™. This device will be more accurate and more cost-effective than current technologies on the market. Shilo was co-founder of LabStyle Innovation, where he served as President and COO. He was responsible for propelling the company’s flagship product “Dario” from inception to reality and led the company’s evolution to a public American company (NASDAQ). He is also co-founder of Emendo Biotherapeutics, developing next generation gene editing tools for genetic disorders, and addressing the current technological gaps for realizing the promise of gene therapy. Finally, Mr. Ben Zeev is Chairman of Mybiotics Pharma, a life science company developing live bacteria-based probiotic products to improve health and quality of life. The company has developed MyCrobe TM – a proprietary innovative live bacteria delivery system.
Dave Acosta is the Co-founder of EDC Solutions T1. Together with his wife Laura, EDC Solutions T1 was created in March, 2019. With a background in the firearms industry designing custom gun holsters, EDC stood for Every Day Carry. Today, it is even more appropriate for T1D.
Approached by a close family friend with T1D about creating a custom holster for his insulin pump, Dave was inspired to start creating personalized pump holsters for more T1D patients. It has given his family an opportunity to not only work hard, but to be a part of something bigger – opening their eyes to a whole community of people who fight for their health each day. It is an honor to be able to give individuals creative license to express themselves through customizing something so personal. Dave and his family put heart and soul into every aspect of what they do.
Hearing customers’ stories inspires them to continue to grow every single day. Dave and his family love what they do, and love customizing something that is unique as the individual wearing it. They are continually looking into the future and how they can continue to create and make life managing this disease less cumbersome for those with T1D and other challenges.
Liz Sacco is the proud owner and founder of Diabetic Dabs® Inc.. Liz developed the concept of Diabetic Dabs® after her son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. As a member of the diabetes community, Sacco is passionate about helping to simplify and improve the lives of families like her own by getting involved with helping to educate people on diabetes with speaking engagements and her commitment to giving a portion of all profits to help with diabetes research. Liz launched her business through phases of conceptualization, product development, and commercialization into marketplace. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in International Relations from Syracuse University and landed her first career position at Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor. Leaving her position as a financial advisor, her
attention went to caring for her four boys and dealing with her son who had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Dabs® can be found on several online stores and a handful of brick and mortar retail businesses. Liz looks forward to the growth of the dabs® and is determined to make it a household name!
Lonny Stormo is CEO and co-founder of POPS! Diabetes Care. After a thirty-year career at Medtronic, where he was honored to serve as an executive and business leader, Lonny resigned his position to lead POPS! Diabetes Care. Significant portions of Lonny’s career include business leadership and sales for both devices and data. He serves the community through positions in Rotary International and the American Diabetes Association. Lonny holds a BSEE degree from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and an MBA from Arizona State University.
Maren Schinz, PhD, has lived with T1D since 2008 and has two passions: science and design. After graduating with honors, the post-doctoral biochemist had all the prerequisites for a promising science career. She started on this path but after some frustrating situations with her standard black nylon diabetes supplies case, she wanted to design bags that provided discretion and gave people the freedom to decide for themselves when to talk about their diabetes. “We cannot change your diabetes, but we can change your life with diabetes,” is the goal of the company mysugarcase, which has been awarded several top startup prizes since its launch in 2016.
Bola Lafe is the founder and Managing Director of Opus Innovations Ltd and a Director of TickleTec Ltd. Bola qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1992 but went on to enjoy a 21-year career in the Investment Banking sector based in London, New York and Tokyo. Despite a very successful international career that led him to become a Managing Director in 2006, Bola left to set up Opus in 2011, and became a Director of TickleTec in 2016. Both Opus and TickleTec are healthcare product companies that were set up to develop innovative and sustainable healthcare solutions that are of benefit to people, animals and the planet. Our focus is on diabetes, injection pain relief, infection prevention & control and ethical healthcare products. Bola was selected as one of the 2017 ‘Top 100 figures’ by The Manufacturer magazine in the UK for being ‘An Inspiring Leader’, ‘A Bold Investor’ & ‘A Driver of Cultural Change’.
Ziad Alame is the diabetic founder and CEO behind Spike Diabetes Assistant. After a decade of struggling with missed insulin injections and wrong dosages, Spike was born. Ziad is a dropout coder who has previously worked on multiple social tech startups dealing with education, crowdfunding, and employment. Ziad has been awarded multiple prizes globally including top 20 entrepreneurs by Executive Magazine for 2016 and the Arabian Business Achievement Award for 2018.
As for Spike, it is a mobile assistant that helps diabetics better manage their diabetes. Spike monitors the patient’s daily behavior and jumps in with reminders and tips when needed about insulin, food, activity, etc. In addition to that, Spike stores the patient’s data for further analysis and/or sharing with doctors and caregivers.
I have been CEO of different projects (from medical school to my own ideas) and thus, I have formed and guided teams to solve complex tasks through lean startup and scientific R&D. I founded Medicsen (team of 20) because a little girl with diabetes rejected the treatment in consult. I raised funds, successfully completed 3 individual R&D projects (algorithm for predicting glucose, user interface to increase adherence and non invasive drug delivery system), filed a patent and negotiated with pharma and tech companies in different countries. My goal is to help shape the use of technology in medicine, and I keep looking forward for new opportunities to keep learning and improving in business, technology, science and innovation.
Uwe Diegel was a concert pianist until the age of 26. Following an accident that partially restricted movement in his right arm, he started a new career in medical diagnostics, quickly developing a particular interest in chronic diseases such as hypertension, asthma, and diabetes. His intense scientific curiosity has led him not only to develop new technologies in these fields, but also to become interested in medical manufacturing, industrial design, and problems in Asian manufacturing. Uwe Diegel has been at the forefront of international changes in healthcare technology for the last 30 years. His drive and passion for innovative technology have spurred major changes in perception about healthcare.
In 2009, Uwe developed an interest in connected health as a means of providing better patient management. He became involved in iHealth, a platform that takes all the signals of the body and translates them into a meaningful format using smartphones and tablets and served as CEO of iHealthLabs Europe until 2016, when he left to work on the Lifeina project.
Uwe lives in Paris, where he is CEO of HealthWorks Global, CEO of Lifeina, and conducts fundamental research in medical diagnostics. Today, he is considered to be a foremost expert in the fields of blood pressure management, diabetes, asthma, and the manufacturing of medical diagnostics devices. For the last few years, he has spearheaded the dissemination and acceptance of connected health as a tool for providing better solutions for patients.