What is Glu? What are you trying to accomplish with Glu?
Glu is part of a larger project called the T1D Exchange. The goal for the entire project is to link the
members of the diabetes community, the researchers, health care providers, and the people living with type 1 together and give them tools that we can use to work together to improve diabetes. Glu is the
part of the project focused on you, the people whose lives are touched by type 1 diabetes.
Glu is a website designed to connect people living with diabetes to the larger community, it is both a
forum to share news and stories, and for those interested, to share personal health information and
participate in studies and surveys in a safe and secure environment. Our goal is to learn more about
diabetes from the real experts like you, and, in turn, to share that data with you and the larger diabetes
community of researchers and healthcare providers.
What makes Glu different/important/complementary to what is going on in the diabetes online
community (DOC) nowadays?
Glu is designed we hope, with an aim to complement the amazing communities like, TuDiabetes, that
already exist. Glu is part of a larger network the T1DExchange that is described below. As part of this
large project Glu hopes to build on existing communities by creating a community for people of all ages
and their loved ones touched by type 1 diabetes. In addition to the social networking we are working
with healthcare providers and researchers to develop tools and studies that help us better understand
type 1 and work to make the daily experience of living with type 1 better.
Glu will be collecting information about the management of type 1 diabetes and any other medical
information that you are willing to share to help us towards this end. With Glu, you have the flexibility to
not share any information or to share as much as you want in our secure environment. We are designing tools that we think will eventually be able to take the information you share with us and will provide that information to you in a way that is more helpful or meaningful. It is likely the major research focus and the ability to collect information from such a large number of people with type 1 that makes Glu different.
We see our main differentiator as being part of the T1D Exchange which will allow you to:
• Create a secure record of your key health information in a simple, fun and easy way
• Be empowered through tools designed to help you live well with diabetes.
• Participate in cutting edge research studies and surveys.
• Have an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives by sharing your experiences with the
community.
How did Glu get started? Tell us more about the story behind Glu and how it came to life.
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust – www.helmsleytrust.org – was established in
1999 as a continuation of the Helmsleys’ generous giving throughout their lifetimes. As part of the
Trust’s major focus on health and medical research, the Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program was
launched in 2009 with the goal of dramatically advancing treatment and care for people living with type
1 diabetes. David Panzirer, Leona Helmsley’s grandson and a Trustee, is the driving force behind the T1D
Program based on his personal connection to the disease: one of his daughters was diagnosed with the
condition in 2006.
The Helmsley T1D Program is led by veteran type 1 diabetes program director, Dana Ball, who joined
the Trust in 2008. Dana worked closely with co-founder Marie Schiller, from the Boston-based firm,
Health Advances, to develop the T1D Exchange concept: an integrated model that includes a clinic-based registry, a BioBank and a patient community – Glu. The two solicited significant input from diverse stakeholders in the type 1 diabetes community—including government, industry, academia, and the nonprofit sector—to create this new model for conducting and funding type 1 diabetes research. Glu provides powerful tools such as a Patient Health Record, mobile applications, research database and active communities that will bring change to the treatment of type 1 diabetes on a global scale. It will be accessible via all of the popular web-browers and a dedicated app for the iPhone and Android mobile devices.
They also identified the Jaeb Center for Research, led by Dr. Roy Beck, as the right partner to develop the T1D Exchange through a three-year, $26 million grant (link to press release).
Today, the four founders of the Exchange—David Panzirer, Dana Ball, Roy Beck and Marie Schiller—
continue to work closely with the T1D Exchange staff and guide the T1D Exchange vision as members of the T1D Exchange Executive Committee.
What is the "big hairy goal" you have for Glu? How will you know when/if Glu is wildly successful?
The “big” (not sure if it is or “hairy”) goal for Glu is to help people living with type 1 diabetes and those
who care for them by providing a variety of tools, a means to communicate with the community and to
advance diabetes research through the conduct of surveys and studies. What Glu will look like or do in
the end, we can’t yet say, we believe it will evolve overtime based on the needs of the community. We
will only know that it is successful if you tell us so, if we can help you and help the community of people
with type 1 diabetes, then it is a success. Success here is entirely based on how successful we all make it.
What does someone's participation in Glu achieve?
That is up to you! You can share as much information as you want to, to reach out to as many members
of the community as you want. This community and every member have so much to share and so
much that we believe can help others. Type 1 diabetes is self-managed, you are the expert in your own
diabetes, and we want to learn more from you so that hopefully we can better understand type 1 and the needs and hopes of the community.
What does the appearance of Glu mean for communities like TuDiabetes?
We hope that Glu will support TuDiabetes, and other communities. We believe that there is much work
to be done in type 1 and many needs to address. We see this is a partnership and hope that together
we can make a bigger impact in type 1 than any of us could make on our own. Glu as part of the larger
T1D Exchange offers a direct connection to researchers and healthcare providers and we hope to engage the TuDiabetes community and you, it’s members, to help us make the most of these connections. Glu’s philosophy is to create greater collaboration and knowledge creation by allowing everyone involved in this effort to come together.
For more information, please watch this video.
If you are interested in learning more about Glu or in joining this community please send us an email at
info@myglu.org.