The 79th Scientific Sessions was held June 7-11, 2019 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, with over 15,000 people (including over 12,000 professional attendees) from 115 countries.  It’s one of the BIG events in the diabetes community, with hundreds of abstracts, poster presentations, lectures, continuing education courses, product and industry announcements and hundreds of exhibitors, vendors and informational booths.  Believe me, it is BIG and full of everything diabetes. 

I’m just going to give you a few of the highlights, in a nutshell, with links to read more. 

New Statement on ‘Time in Range’ Targets for CGM Use in Diabetes was reported by Miriam E. Tucker for MedScape.com, 18 June 2019.  The recommendations were also presented June 9 at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 2019 Scientific Sessions and published online June 8 in Diabetes Care.

In a late-breaking poster, Tadej Battelino, MD, PhD, head of the department of pediatric and adolescent endocrinology at Ljubljana University Medical Centre, Slovenia, detailed the document entitled, Clinical Targets for Continuous Glucose Monitoring Data Interpretation: Recommendations From the International Consensus on Time in Range.

Time in Range Recommendations

In the document, the recommendations for most people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes are:

• • > 70% of readings within a blood glucose range of 70-180mg/dL (3.9-10.0 mmol/L)
  • < 4% of readings < 70 mg/dL (< 3.9 mmol/L)
  • < 1% of readings < 54 mg/dL (< 3.0 mmol/L)
  • < 25% of readings > 180 mg/dL (> 10.0 mmol/L)
  • < 5% of readings > 250 mg/dL (> 13.9 mmol/L)
  • For those aged < 25 years for whom the HbA_1c goal is < 7.5%, the time-in-range target should be set to about 60%.

Read more: ‘Time in Range’ Targets for CGM Use in Diabetes

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Medtronic and Dexcom Have Become Official Tidepool Loop Partners! This is BIG news! PLUS more news from diaTribe.org, 14 June 2019.

Medtronic announced that its Bluetooth-enabled alternate controller enabled (ACE) pump and Guardian Sensor 3 interoperable continuous glucose monitor (iCGM) will be compatible with the Tidepool Loop automated insulin delivery (AID) app. Medtronic’s Bluetooth-enabled ACE pump and Guardian Sensor 3 iCGM are both under development and not yet submitted to FDA. Dexcom has also partnered with Tidepool Loop to integrate its already-available G6 iCGM. 

Medtronic and Dexcom join Tidepool Loop’s first partner, Insulet’s Omnipod, leaving just Tandem, Abbott, and Senseonics as US players not yet on board. Tidepool Loop’s Medtronic and Dexcom partnerships are a huge step in developing devices that can be used together and increasing the number of options for people with diabetes.

Read more: The Biggest News in Diabetes Technology, Drugs, and Nutrition: Highlights from ADA 2019

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Gut-based interventions for diabetes move closer to clinical reality in an ADA symposium called Go With Your Gut – Intestinal Regulation of Metabolism. 

Diabetes is a metabolic disease. The gut, and the microbiome that resides within the gut, sees everything you put in your mouth. Clinicians talk about the liver seeing everything you eat, but the gastrointestinal tract sees it before the liver. Therefore, the gut sits at the intersection of inflammation, the microbiome, and metabolic disease.

According to Suzanne Devkota (PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Microbiome Research at the F. Widjaja Foundation Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA), “We know from twin studies that the gut microbiome is intimately associated with obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders. We also know that certain members of the gut microbiome are associated with glycemic response to certain foods. That suggests that it may be possible to change your glycemic response to food by altering your gut microbiome.”

Read more: Gut-based interventions for diabetes move closer to clinical reality

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And finally, for the awards!  What conference would be complete without honoring significant advances and achievements?! As the ADA says, “The National Scientific & Health Care Achievement Awards are presented to recognize and honor individuals in the diabetes scientific and medical community who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions through their outstanding career achievements and support in the areas of diabetes research, clinical care and education including training, mentoring and international impact.”

2019 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement

Stephen O’Rahilly, MD
Banting Medal Lecture
“Treasure your exceptions”.  Studying human extreme phenotypes to illuminate metabolic health and  disease

Stephen O’Rahilly, MD, is the recipient of the 2019 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement. This award recognizes significant, long-term contributions to the understanding, treatment or prevention of diabetes. Dr. O’Rahilly will present the Banting Medal Lecture on Sunday, June 9.

Currently Professor of Clinical Biochemistry & Medicine and Head of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, Dr. O’Rahilly is renowned for his contributions to identifying novel extreme human metabolic phenotypes, discovering and characterizing numerous genes important in metabolic function and dysfunction, and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic applications, now established in clinical practice. 

2019 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award

Sadaf Farooqi, MB, ChB (Hons), PhD
Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award Lecture
Obesity and the Biology of Weight Regulation

Sadaf Farooqi, MD, PhD is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. This prestigious award recognizes research in diabetes that demonstrates particular independence of thought and originality. Dr. Farooqi will present the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award Lecture on Monday, June 10. 

Dr. Farooqi is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Metabolism and Medicine at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, UK. An internationally recognized clinician scientist, Dr. Farooqi has made seminal contributions to understanding the genetic and physiological mechanisms that underlie severe obesity and its complications. 

2019 Albert Renold Award

Rudolph L. Leibel, MD
Rudolph L. Leibel, MD, is the recipient of the 2019 Albert Renold Award. Supported by an unrestricted grant from Merck, this award is presented to an individual whose career is distinguished by outstanding achievements in the training and mentorship of diabetes research scientists and in the development of communities of scientists to enhance diabetes research. 

Dr. Leibel is the Christopher J. Murphy Memorial Professor of Diabetes Research, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Head of the Division of Molecular Genetics, and Co-Director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University. 

2019 Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award

John B. Buse, MD, PhD
John B. Buse, MD, PhD, is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award. This award recognizes exceptional contributions in patient-oriented clinical outcomes research that have had a significant impact on diabetes prevention and treatment.

Dr. Buse is the Verne S. Caviness Distinguished Professor, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Director of the Diabetes Center, Director of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute and Executive Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina. Embodying excellence and innovative leadership, Dr. Buse has led or participated in more than 200 clinical studies and dozens of epidemiologic analyses and translational projects. 

2019 Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award 

Virginia Valentine, APRN, BC-ADM, CDE, FAADE
Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award Lecture
The Most Important Thing We Give to People is Hope: Overcoming Stigma in Diabetes and Obesity

Virginia Valentine, APRN, BC-ADM, CDE, FAADE, is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award. Supported by an unrestricted grant from Lilly USA, LLC , this award recognizes a distinguished health professional who has made outstanding educational efforts in the field of diabetes. 

Ms. Valentine is a Diabetes Specialist with Clinica La Esperanza in Alburquerque, NM where she manages a wide variety of diabetes clinical challenges in a primary care group. She holds faculty appointments with the University of New Mexico and serves as clinician faculty for the endocrinology TeleECHO Clinic (Endo ECHO) which trains and supports primary care providers in rural and underserved communities to improve their knowledge and skill in endocrinology care. Ms. Valentine has provided professional education on a state, national and international level. Her delivery always includes participation and instills a sense of confidence and willingness to try something new.

2019 Outstanding Physician Clinician in Diabetes Award

David C. Klonoff, MD, FACP, FRCP (Edin), Fellow AIMBE

David C. Klonoff, MD, FACP, FRCP (Edin), Fellow AIMBE is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Physician Clinician in Diabetes Award. Sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, this award is presented to an individual to reward and honor meritorious contributions to diabetes clinical practice.

Dr. Klonoff is Medical Director of the Diabetes Research Institute at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF.  He practices endocrinology in Burlingame, California.  In 1998 Dr. Klonoff coined the term “diabetes technology” when the focus of diabetes treatment was on biology.  He has been a leader in diabetes hardware, software, digital health, and device cybersecurity.  Dr.  Klonoff has received an FDA Director’s Special Citation Award for his work in diabetes technology.  In 2000 he founded Diabetes Technology Society, a non-profit organization promoting development and use of technology for patients with diabetes. Dr. Klonoff has spoken to the US Congressional Diabetes Caucus, participated in the White House Health and Cybersecurity Roundtable, and spoken at the European Parliament.   He has been a Principal Investigator in over 110 clinical trials of devices and drugs and has published over 200 articles in PubMed-indexed journals. 

2019 Harold Rifkin Award for Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes

Juliana C.N. Chan, MB, ChB, MD, FRCP

Juliana C.N. Chan, MB, ChB, MD, FRCP is the recipient of the 2019 Harold Rifkin Award for Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes. Sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, this award honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding research, evaluation and care in diabetes performed from an international perspective with an international impact. 

Dr. Chan is Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics, and Founding Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Recognized globally, Dr. Chan has impressively used research and professional education to inform practice and policies for the prevention and management of diabetes.

2019 Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology

Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, PhD

Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology Lecture
Improving Outcomes: Translating Epidemiology to Clinical Trials

Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, PhD is the recipient of the 2019 Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology. Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Merck , this award recognizes significant contributions to the field of diabetes epidemiology. Dr. Mayer-Davis will deliver the Kelly West Award Lecture on Sunday, June 9.

Dr. Mayer-Davis is currently Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With research focused on the epidemiology of diabetes in youth and young adults, her body of work is described in more than 300 peer reviewed papers and book chapters. Dr. Mayer-Davis has conducted trials in type 2 diabetes prevention and type 1 diabetes treatment. She has also performed observational studies of diabetes complications and the role of nutrition. Much of her work has focused on translating research to understand clinical and public health implications.

Read more: 2019 National Scientific & Health Care Achievement Award Recipients