The Only Way I'm Ever Getting in to Stanford

First, let me say thank you to Amy Tenderich and the entire team at Diabetes Mine for offering me an invitation to the D-Data Exchange at Stanford this past week. Thanks to Howard Look at the great team at Tidepool for supporting such a great event. Thanks especially to Weston, John, Ben, Adrian and Joyce from the Nightscout community for answering my silly newbie questions, and giving me rides all over town!

As I sat last year reading the news out of the D-Mine event, Nightscout was the funny looking new kid in the corner. Everybody was excited to have something to talk about, but nobody quite knew what to make of the project. Would it shut down with the Share release from Dexcom? Would the FDA step in? Would they get sued into oblivion? Would Lassie ever rescue Timmy from the well? Way more questions than answers!

This year, Nightscout was on everybody's lips and it was the most amazing feeling. On Thursday afternoon, we had a chance to visit with representatives from a host of companies and research groups, and everyone was so excited about the growth and continued opportunities for Nightscout. I have to thank Joyce especially for taking such an interest in the community. Partnering with the U of Michigan on the PCORI project really validates the process, and legitimizes our group in the eyes of many other stakeholders in the diabetes community. 

During the break, we visited with attendees and I really began to realize what kind of lightning in a bottle we have in terms of this community. There are lots of follow up discussions to be had, but I'm looking forward to the next few months. Expect to see more opportunities for using your Nightscout data in different ways and opportunities to pay it forward by sharing your data or your thoughts in surveys and research projects.  There is real excitement in the community around the liquidity of personal data and how patients want to use it, and I think Nightscout has a lot to do with that. 

On Friday, the conference was a bit more corporate, moving from discussions of data standards and APIs into research projects, FDA and HHS presentations, and a small group project revolving around "the next big innovation," for diabetes. It was a massive amount of information from a host of really smart people. Keep an eye on Diabetes Mine for their summary of the days presentations. 

It was an unexpected highlight, and a new feature of the conference to see Innovation awards presented by the Diabetes Mine team. Nightscout was nominated in the category of Glucose Control, alongside Dexcom and MySugr. Such incredible company to be in! Dexcom won for their work on the G4/G5 CGM device, and we couldn't be happer to congratulate them on their work, since they really are the basis for so much of OUR work. 

There will be reports from the D-Mine team to come, but in the mean time,  the Close Concerns team has a great draft write-up that you can read here. 

As we wrapped up Friday night, I had the pleasure of dining with these fine folks. From left, that's Adrian de Croy, Wes Nordgren, me, Dr. Joyce Lee, John Costik, and Ben West. Over dinner and a few glasses of wine, we kept talking diabetes, the FDA, and what's next. I couldn't help but be reminded how much the human touch matters, and how much being able to look at someone when they talk matters. We have a thriving online community, but nothing matches recognizing the passion in someone's eyes as they talk about a piece of this project that they love. I am inspired by these people to do more, and I hope this next year you'll see that come to life. I hope you'll plan now to join us at a CWD conference this year or one of the other events where NIghtscout has a presence. I plan to put a calendar of events together, and you'll see a link to it on this page.

Thank you to every single person that's reading this. You are part of the Nightscout family, and all the success we've had this past year, from the funny looking kid to the belle of the ball, we owe it to you.