JDRF and Tidepool Partner to Bring Data to an Open Source Platform for People with type 1 diabetes

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- JDRF, the leading research and advocacy organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, and Tidepool ™, a Silicon Valley-based non-profit organization committed to reducing the burden of T1D, announced a partnership supported by JDRF funding for data access technology for people with T1D who use insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) through a device agnostic cloud platform.

"JDRF is pleased to collaborate with Tidepool and to further technology to help reduce the burden of managing type 1 diabetes," said Derek Rapp, president and CEO of JDRF. "We are committed to ensuring that the data software available is safe, convenient and offers reliable access. This new data platform will allow anyone to upload data easily and share with healthcare providers or others to ensure better monitoring and less work for people with T1D. We are excited about the potential for this real-time accessible information which will bring us one step closer to JDRF's goal to progressively remove the burden of T1D from all of our lives." 

With this partnership, JDRF will provide funding to further Tidepool's diabetes technology through development of a tool called the "Universal Device Uploader". The new tool will help to make it easier to access and integrate data from various T1D devices. Additionally, Tidepool's application "Blip," enables more accessible and intuitive visualizations and better flow of patient and doctor communication. Tidepool's technology will help make data protocols open and available via the Tidepool Platform. This platform will enable improvements in Artificial Pancreas (AP) development, helping researchers to focus on algorithms, trials and effectiveness.

The Universal Device Uploader will also allow for increased artificial pancreas (AP) research based on greater understandings of the data from diabetes devices. With clinical testing of new AP systems accelerating into more real-world settings, there is a greater need for researchers to more easily and remotely track their performance and collect the data necessary to advance their development.  Accessing such integrated data remotely with the Universal Device Uploader will speed development of AP systems that better control a person's blood glucose levels.

"We're so excited to be partnering with JDRF on the development of Tidepool's Universal Device Uploader," said Howard Look, founder, CEO, and president of Tidepool. "In the short term, this will make it much easier for people with T1D to access their diabetes device data in a vendor-agnostic way. Over the longer term, this signals a new era data being liberated from diabetes devices. This will enable a new wave of software that is easier to use, enables greater engagement, more effective therapy and new types of research that were not possible before."

JDRF will join multiple partners who have announced agreements with Tidepool including Insulet which has provided the data protocol for the OmniPod to Tidepool and Asante and Dexcom, the first device makers to embrace an open data platform and encourage an ecosystem of diabetes management software to emerge.

About JDRF
JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF's goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people's lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence and a working plan to bring life-changing therapies from the lab to the community. As the largest charitable supporter of T1D research, JDRF is currently sponsoring $568 million in charitable research in 17 countries. For more information, please visit www.jdrf.org

About Tidepool:
Tidepool Project is an open source, non-profit effort building software that helps reduce the burden of managing Type 1 Diabetes. The Tidepool Platform is a secure, scalable home for diabetes device data as well as contextual data such as meals, exercise and life events. Tidepool's first application Blip, is the hub of your diabetes data, bringing together data from insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors and blood glucose meters in one place. Tidepool's Universal Device Uploader makes it easy to upload data from any diabetes device. Nutshell, Tidepool's next application, provides situational recall for meals, making it easier to figure out exactly the right dosing strategy. The Tidepool Platform and anonymized research database also serve as a foundation for contextualized diabetes research.

Learn more at tidepool.org

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SOURCE JDRF