Masters Student Looking to Learn

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gen dowd

gen dowd

Member Since 2022
Hi all!

Thank you so much for allowing me to join such a vibrant, lovely community of folks. I am already learning so much.

I'm Gen, and I'm currently a Masters Candidate at the University of Notre Dame. I am looking to connect with owners of diabetic cats to better inform my Capstone project. Our goal is to improve insulin delivery for pet owners. This is not commercial -- I am just looking to understand market needs to inform the best solution possible!

I have a flyer with a little more information that I'm happy to share as well, but please feel free to connect with me here or email at gensulinresearch@gmail.com. I'd love to chat and learn!

Please feel free to share this post if you think it may be useful to anyone else you know! I appreciate everyone's time, and I look forward to a chance to chat with you.
 
Sugar’s Mama said:
What a fun project!

In terms of insulin delivery, I think the biggest challenge is getting small doses consistent. The syringes have .5 unit markers but most of us increase/decrease doses in .25 increments.
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Wouldn't it be great if they had all the doses we give on the syringe. I struggle with the .25 My boy is on 2.25 just got a reduction yesterday, it's a really hard measurement to guess & hope you get it right.
 
Sugar’s Mama said:
I’m dreaming of a pen with .25 increments so it’s always on point! I liked using the pen tips when we were started out!
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I've always used a vial, but it's close to being gone & I've got 2 pens. I'm nervous to some degree but I'm ready to see how it works!
 
I use the pens with syringes now, it is pretty much the same as the vials. But, you can use the pen needles if you have a dose divisible by 1. You waste insulin because you have to ‘prime’ it, but I would gladly waste it if I could draw up exact amounts divisible by .25. I started with the pens at one unit and it was a good way for me to ease into using syringes.
 
Sugar’s Mama said:
What a fun project!

In terms of insulin delivery, I think the biggest challenge is getting small doses consistent. The syringes have .5 unit markers but most of us increase/decrease doses in .25 increments.
Click to expand...
This is super interesting - have you ever dosed less than 0.5 units? I'd love to connect and chat more about your experiences!
 
Chrispooky12 said:
Wouldn't it be great if they had all the doses we give on the syringe. I struggle with the .25 My boy is on 2.25 just got a reduction yesterday, it's a really hard measurement to guess & hope you get it right.
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I have been hearing a lot of similar sentiments in some of my interviews. As far as dosing frequency - is that ever an issue for you? I'd love to hear more of your thoughts! Thank you!
 
I would love it if they patented a syringe that did 0.10u increments too for the kitties nearing remission. Right now eyeballing the dose is all we can do (some use calipers too) and sometimes cats are so sensitive to the insulin that even a drop too much can throw them off.
 
A lot of us buy the pen but draw with syringes. Since the pens are smaller volume, it's more likely you can use all the insulin before it goes bad. The vials are so large that they usually go bad before you use it all, unless you have a high dose cat (acromegaly, Cushing's, IAA, etc). Also easier to break. We do dose changes in 0.25U most of the time, if nearing remission it can be 0.1U.

For people with disabilities (vision, muscle, etc) the pens with the needles tend to be preferred because they can hear the clicks as dose is changed and insulin is administered, but the 1U dose changes are just too much for most cats. They make the JuniorSTAR but it's not always easy or cheap to get ahold of (remember that most of us pay for this all out of pocket, no insurance, full price).

A problem with the pens is needing to be primed, it wastes quite a bit of insulin (cost). Additionally, the 20 second hold time for accuracy can be difficult for some cats. There are significant inaccuracies in pen dosing if you don't prime or hold for 20 seconds when administering (see the images tab in my spreadsheet)
 
Gen -

Is this a research project? It looks like the program you're in is entrepreneurial. While I applaud your initiative, I'm a faculty member at a major research institution. There are a lot of hoops that need to be jumped through before you can solicit information. Is this project approved by your Institutional Review Board? Did you contact the Webmaster of this site to ask permission to post about a project? If your project moves forward into implementation, how are you going to credit FDMB monetarily? Is this project approved by your committee and if so, where is the documentation of that approval. I could go on.....

The members here are very generous with their help. It's what makes FDMB a community. I would hate to see their generosity be misplaced.

I'm going to ask members to not respond to this thread until Gen has provided information to support the legitimacy of her project.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Gen -

Is this a research project? It looks like the program you're in is entrepreneurial. While I applaud your initiative, I'm a faculty member at a major research institution. There are a lot of hoops that need to be jumped through before you can solicit information. Is this project approved by your Institutional Review Board? Did you contact the Webmaster of this site to ask permission to post about a project? If your project moves forward into implementation, how are you going to credit FDMB monetarily? Is this project approved by your committee and if so, where is the documentation of that approval. I could go on.....

The members here are very generous with their help. It's what makes FDMB a community. I would hate to see their generosity be misplaced.

I'm going to ask members to not respond to this thread until Gen has provided information to support the legitimacy of her project.
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Hi there!
Thanks so much for reaching out, and I absolutely respect and appreciate your concern.
I am not working with a company, nor is my research commercial at this time. I am collaborating with a professor who is involved in diabetes research, and we are trying to figure out paint points for diabetic pet owners to see where (if at all) any of the existing tech may be applicable. Further, we are trying to see if there would be any necessary improvements in the technology before using it on a companion animal. As such, I was just hoping to have conversations with people who have experiences treating diabetic animals. I am not looking to test any technology on any pet.
I am definitely willing to take this post down if it is in violation of any guidelines, and I apologize deeply for any problems caused. Thank you again for bringing this up, and I appreciate everyone's kindness. I by no means want to take advantage of anyone's generosity.
With deepest gratitude,
Gen
 
I would recommend contacting the Webmaster for his approval. To the degree that your information is considered a part of your adviser's research, I would inform the Webmaster (@Robert and Echo) and provide him with the necessary documentation.
 
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