Ah, Academy Awards season is here once again… And did you know that at DiabetesMine we’ve established our own tradition of a D-Community version of the Oscars? Yep, each year we select and unveil the coveted Diabetes Oscars for those who’ve made a mark on our community in the past year or so.
This year, we’re opening up nominations to you all! Yes, we want YOU to vote on your choices — or nominate your own picks in each category. Then at the end of the month, we’ll announce the winners. Be sure to check out our prior year’s D-Oscars to get a sense of how we roll.
Or you can email us your specific nominations.
Here’s a preview of the nominees we have lined up so far. Check out the links to learn more on each:
Most Exciting New Technology (pick one or suggest your own):
- Senseonics Implantable CGM (approved by FDA in June 2018)
- Tandem Basal-IQ (approved and launched in 2018)
- Dexcom G6 CGM (approved and launched in 2018)
- LibreLink App allowing smartphone scanning for FreeStyle Libre
- Other:
Best Policy Change:
- Medicare support for smartphone use with CGM
- FDA’s new Patient Engagement Collaborative
- Medicare covering OmniPod
- Medicare covering Abbott FreeStyle Libre
- Other:
Best Collaboration:
- Dexcom with TypeZero
- Insulet with Samsung
- Tidepool with Loop
- One Drop with Apple Health
- Beyond Type 1 with… Everyone!
- Other:
Best Emergency Relief Efforts:
- Hurricane relief from Diabetes Emergency Response Coalition (DERC)
- Sanofi’s VALyou program for affordable insulin
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed “Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act”
- New emergency glucagons under development (Lilly nasal puffer & Xeris quick pen)
- Other:
Most Eye-Opening Research:
- “Spider Web” approach to beta cell preservation by Cornell University
- Diabetes vision restoration “moonshot initiative” from JDRF
- T1D Exchange findings that nearly 80% of T1Ds fail to achieve treatment goals
- Other:
Most Impressive Grassroots Advocacy:
- Quinn Nystrom “schooling” the US Surgeon General
- CWD “My Meds My Choice” website to combat non-medical switching
- DPAC on access and affordability issues
- D-Mom Nicole Smith-Holt’s #insulin4all advocacy
- Other:
Community Resource MVP of the Year:
- Diabetes Strong food & exercise guides
- “Bright Spots and Landmines” book by Adam Brown
- Beyond Type 1 “School Downloadables”
- College Diabetes Network “Off to College” materials
- Other:
Best Public Display of Diabetes:
- Miss America 2018 Brittany Wagner
- American Eagle Aerie lingerie model showing off D-devices
- Quincy the Koala sporting CGM at the San Diego Zoo (sadly, he died in December of pneumonia)
- “The Resident” TV show episode featuring T1D
- Other:
Hottest Diabetes Musical Performance:
- “Let Em Loose” by T1D country singer Ben Rue (part of a Roche campaign)
- “The Stuff” by T1D singer Crystal Bowersox (stumping for Beyond Type 1)
- “Special Girl” barbershop quartet song by UK D-Dad Caspian Ashworth
- “The Price” rock video by Jesse Blaze Snider (son of Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider)
- Other:
Most Dope DOC Advocate:
- Ariel @justalittle_suga
- JeVonda Flint (Facebook)
- Lea 24 @insulea.de
- @PoshPancreas
- @MissBalmain
- Other:
The “Grumbly Award”:
- FDA database analysis showing infusion pumps have highest overall rate of malfunctions & injuries
- ADA and JDRF calling out Dr. Denise Faustman for questionable research
- Estimated annual insulin cost of $5,705 per person with T1D (and all those who play a part in that outrageous pricing)
- Dexcom not notifying users of a server outage
- Other:
Lifetime Achievement in the D-Community:
- Camp director Ivy Lockett (posthumously)
- Highly acclaimed endo & just-retired CMO of Medtronic Dr. Francine Kaufman
- Diabetes & pregnancy specialist Dr. Lois Jovanovic (posthumously)
- Dr. Fred Whitehouse, 70-year veteran endo who served with Dr. Elliott Joslin
- Other:
Who do you think has earned these D-Oscars? Remember, voting closes Feb. 17 so be sure to chime in by then. And stay tuned for the Winners Announcement later in the month!