Jakob Dahl Thomsen is co-founder and CEO of Dukada Ltd., a Danish company established in 2012 that produces add-ons for insulin pens. “Dukada” is a contraction of “Yes, you can” in Danish. The mission is to make life with diabetes easier, based on user experience. Jakob has been living with T1D for more than 40 years. Besides the present responsibilities for Dukada, he has worked both as independent lawyer and as diplomat for the Danish Foreign Service with postings on several locations around the world. User inputs from these changing environments have inspired the development of the Dukada products. A network of people living with diabetes contributes to the Dukada concept development. On the technical level, Dukada is assisted by, amongst others, experts connected to the Science and Technology Park at the Technical University of Denmark.
John Sjölund is the CEO and co-founder of Patients Pending Ltd, a company that helps build innovative products for those living with chronic conditions, in particular Diabetes. John was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of four. John created Patients Pending’s first product, Timesulin, a revolutionary product created to decrease the anxiety and increase the functionality and timing of Insulin delivery. Prior John worked for Acceleration, a leading provider of digital marketing services including systems integration and technology services for the publishing and advertising industries. Between 2005 and 2010 John moved between their offices in Cape Town, New York and London and his portfolio included some of the most celebrated consumer and business brands in the world.
Kelly Close founded Close Concerns in 2002, a healthcare information company focused exclusively on Diabetes and Obesity. Kelly has lived with Diabetes for 30 years. The Close Concerns team are tireless in their efforts to change the face of Diabetes and write over five million words per year on Diabetes, Obesity and Health. Ms. Close is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of diaTribe, an educational resource for people living with Diabetes, founded in 2006. She is also Chair to The diaTribe Foundation, a nonprofit established in 2012 whose mission is to advocate for action and to improve the lives of people with pre-Diabetes and Diabetes. Prior Kelly worked as investment banker at Goldman Sachs, in Medical Technology equity research at Merrill Lynch and Piper Jaffray and for McKinsey & Company where she focused on pharmaceutical, managed care, and nonprofit organizations. Kelly has a BA in Economics and English from Amherst College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Jennifer Ross is the co-founder and co-CEO of Be Mixed, an innovative, natural line of zero-calorie cocktail mixers she co-founded while at Harvard Business School. Prior to receiving her MBA, Jennifer worked for Fanvision, a sports entertainment technology company in Marketing and Operations. She also served as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Merchant Bank’s real estate private equity group. Jennifer was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of six. While in high school she organized Rock the Cure, a concert to benefit JDRF, which raised over $200,000. Ms. Ross also serves as the Secretary of Safefittings, a nonprofit organization serving the parents of children with Diabetes (since 2006). Jennifer holds a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Richard Laurits is the President of Diasend, Inc. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1994, Richard has dedicated his life to enhancing the quality of life to all living with Diabetes. Prior to joining Diasend, Inc. Richard founded a startup called eDiabeat in Sweden. Richard’s primary interests are business development, new technology and health. He has a Master of Business Administration from Lund University (Sweden) and Singapore Management University.
Robert Geho is a Co-Founder and CEO of Diasome Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company with targeted insulin therapies, novel Type 2 Diabetes technology, and oral therapy for obesity. He is concurrently the Co-Founder and Director of SDG, Inc., a Nanotechnology Therapeutics company an Equity Partner Company of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation located in Cleveland, Ohio. Geho was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes more than twenty years ago. He has been actively involved in the development of strategies for explaining the role of the liver in glucose metabolism and its ability to regulate glucose in people with Diabetes. He received both his undergraduate degree and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Robert also serves as a member on the boards of directors to the Diabetes Hands Foundation in Berkeley, CA and the Intermuseum Conservation Association in Cleveland, OH.
Jeffrey Dachis is the CEO and Founder of OneDrop, a simple, powerful and convenient mobile platform for managing Diabetes, born from his own experience as a newly diagnosed Type 1 LADA (September 2013). In 2015, One Drop won the “Best Design” award at the prestigious Launch Festival. Prior, Dachis co-founded and served as CEO and Chairman of Razorfish, the world’s largest digital marketing solutions firm. He also founded and served as CEO to the Dachis Group, a data social analytics and consulting firm, acquired by Sprinklr in 2014. Jeff has a MA from NYU, and a double Liberal Arts degree from SUNY Purchase.
Dr. Hehenberger has close to 20 years of experience in the life sciences sector. She served as an executive at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (EYET) & Coronado BioSciences (CNDO) and had strategic management roles at Johnson & Johnson (Vice President Metabolic Strategy), JDRF (Senior Vice President Strategic Alliances), and McKinsey, as well as senior partnership roles at public (Brummer & Partners) and private (Scandinavian Life Science Ventures) multibillion dollar investment funds. She received her MD and PhD degrees from the Karolinska institute, and did her post-doctoral fellowship as a JDRF stipend recipient at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School.
Hanna Boëthius has lived with Type 1 Diabetes as her constant companion for 35 years, and it was as if her whole life fell into place when she started eating real food in 2011. Since her wake up call, she has gained much of her health back, thanks to simply eating the right things and nutrients for her body.
Hanna is an international speaker, writer, podcaster and action taker, who loves diabetes topics that are off of the beaten track. She’s passionate to find motivational and inspiring ways to bring about a change in diabetes management. Through her own company, Hanna Diabetes Expert, she’s inspired thousands of people with diabetes to live a healthier life by sharing her own story and experiences, as well as the puzzle pieces she’s helped others to find. She has a profound understanding of how things like nutrition and lifestyle choices can balance diabetes.
She is also the founder of the very first interactive, 100% real food event, called The Low Carb Universe. It’s Europe’s healthiest event!
Scott Smith is the founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Socrates Health Solutions, a company committed to applying innovative technology in order to provide affordable healthcare and fitness products. Scott’s father has Type 1 Diabetes and from an early age Scott made a commitment to himself that he would find a way to help those living with Diabetes and to ease compliance and improve the life style in every aspect. Prior to launching Socrates, Scott led Global Sales and Marketing for MDG Medical, a medication management device and software company where he built annual revenues from the ground up – accelerating from zero to $15 million in annual sales – and opened worldwide distribution channels. At VISICU, a leading intensive care software firm, Scott was part of the team that completed a successful Initial Public Offering and eventual sale of the firm. Scott earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana.