Thought Leaders and Innovators came Together To Share Their Knowledge, Experience, Research, and Insights about Disrupting Diabetes.

SUMMIT RECAP

INNOVATIONS IN DIABETES CARE

DIABETES’ TOLL ON MINORITY COMMUNITIES

Mr. Chris Finberg is the Innovation Director for the National Science Foundation sponsored Engineering Research Center called PATHS-UP (Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations) The Center is a collaborative effort with Texas A & M, UCLA, Rice, and Florida International Universities.

The goal is to create new & innovative technologies and health systems for point-of-care use to address Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in the underserved populations. The Center is taking a development approach quite unconventional to academia by engaging with stakeholders from all sectors - investors, healthcare providers, physicians, patients, communities, and industry- throughout the R&D process.

Mr. Finberg is originally from the Minneapolis area where he received his Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota.   He spent his entire career in industry with the last decade working in the medical device industry with contract manufacturing companies. Specifically with Class III long term implantable devices for Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM’s) and Neuromodulation. Working with companies like Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott/St. Jude, Biotronik, LivaNova and others.

Today Mr. Finberg’s role is to create an Innovation Ecosystem to insure the technologies created and develop at the Center continue on to scalability and commercialization. That is being done by fostering entrepreneurship with students and faculty, working with start-up companies, building an Industry Consortium where large, medium, and small companies across the entire value chain, and build on those relationships to further innovation - with the ultimate goal of helping those underserved populations have a healthier life.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Anton Kittelberger is Co-Founder, and Co-CEO of 9am.health, the first direct-to-consumer virtual diabetes clinic. Today it already combines prescriptions, medication delivery, labs, and required specialists, making healthcare for people with (pre-)diabetes and related diseases incredibly convenient and affordable.

Before 9am.health Anton and his team built mySugr - a digital therapy management platform focused on people with diabetes injecting insulin that was acquired by Roche in 2017 and is now serving over 4 million users and employs a team of over 200.

Besides, Anton is an active startup advisor and Investor.

Michael Maniscalco is a recognized speaker, visionary and expert in the digital health, diabetes, smart-home, networking, and IoT spaces. Mr. Maniscalco is the recipient of numerous industry accolades for his technical and product training and contributions to the smart-home industry.

He holds a degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has been involved with software and network engineering for Fortune 1000 companies in the custom installation, financial, telecommunications, and healthcare industries for over 20 years.

As a founder of Ihiji, Michael most recently served as Vice President of Product and Marketing for the company’s award-winning cloud-based remote network management and service solutions. In late 2017, Ihiji was acquired by Control4, a worldwide leader in the home automation space. Michael has also successfully founded and sold a high-end home automation services and installation company that was heavily focused on engineering and service contract programs.

In 2018, Mr. Maniscalco launched a digital health software monitoring platform and participated in the TechStars and Capital Factory Accelerators. He also serves as a mentor for 1909, FAU Tech Runway, Lynn University Watson Insitute, and Mass Challenge Austin. Michael also chairs the CEDIA Technology Advisory Council and the Tech Hub South Florida Founders Peer Group.

Ms. Venus Ginés, a 29-year breast cancer survivor, who in 2017 after 25 years of survivorship suffered a recurrence. In 2018, Venus retired as a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, teaching cultural competence and health literacy, as well as conducting research on Latino medical mistrust.

From her personal experience with breast cancer and her sister’s untimely death to cervical cancer, Venus founded Día de la Mujer Latina, Inc., (DML), in 1997 as a national non-profit organization, celebrating its signature health fiesta in 40 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, providing the medically underserved Latina community with culturally and linguistically proficient health education, early detection screening for cancer and other chronic diseases, culturally-tailored preventive programs for Latino teens and patient-centered navigation.

In 2020, she trained 4512 Promotores/Community Health Workers (P/CHWs) in Texas alone related to COVID Disparities. Venus is a State Certified Instructor of P/CHWs with DML being the first approved bilingual Texas State-Sponsored Certification Training Program. She developed a bilingual training curriculum on the subject matters that affect Latinas disproportionately such as Dispelling Myths and Rumors about Women’s Cancers, STDs, Patient-Centered Care, Mental Health, and more recently on COVID -19, Clinical Trials and Vaccines.

On April 9, 2020, she launched the Telehealth Community Navigation Program, Behavioral Health Community Navigator, and in December 2020, the Clinical Trial Community Navigation training, preparing Promotores/CHWs to debunk Misinformation on COVID 19, Vaccines & Clinical Trials. She recently launched the bilingual Telehealth Community Navigation Center to debunk misinformation.

Venus has a Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences and Latin American Studies from California State University San Marcos, and a Master's Degree in Women Studies from Georgia State University.

Dr. Feyi Obamehinti was born in Phoenix, AZ and grew up most of her formative school years in Nigeria. Dr. Obamehinti has over 20 years of experience in the educational field. Her career began as a homeschool mom, later as an elementary, middle school and high school math and science teacher in inner city public schools where she excelled in working with underprivileged students and their families.

Her passion for student achievement expanded to empowering and equipping educators at all stages of their practice. As a result of her impact, Feyi was nominated for the 2007 Teacher of the Year Award in Irving ISD and DFW Teacher of the Year at Texas Virtual Academy. A dynamic international trainer and speaker, Feyi utilizes her expertise in providing leadership and promoting best practices in teaching and learning. Her excellent track record in the educational field, led to her appointment in 2010, on the Texas Education Agency State Review Panel for English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS), for the review of the Teacher Edition for Proclamation 2010. In 2013, she was appointed to the review panel for the Texas 2013 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

In 2017, she was appointed to the Texas Education Agency State Review Panel for Special Topics for Proclamation 2018. In 2019, she was nominated by two Texas State Board Members from districts 11 and 12 as a Content Advisor to review the state health education curriculum.

Furthermore, Dr. Feyi Obamehinti is a 2011 Barbara Bush fellowship Award recipient, a research award that promotes literacy among disadvantaged populations. In 2016, she was named to the National Small Business Association Leadership Council- a nonpartisan small business advocacy organization that works with policymakers in Washington, D.C.

In 2017, she was appointed by Governor Abbott as a Council Member to the Texas Diabetes Council (TDC) and in 2021 the Governor appointed her as the Chair of TDC. A regular consultant for state and federal agencies in areas of grant reviews and program evaluations, Dr. Feyi Obamehinti is highly sought after for strategic partnerships at the local, state, and national levels. Through Ravir LLC, an educational consulting and technical firm that specializes in professional training, coaching and mentoring services in public and charter schools across the nation, she and her team have trained over 4200 educators in best practices. She is the author of The Cooperative Teacher Handbook, Incorporating Science Apps in Grades 6- 12, and The Values of Immigrant Students on Citizenship as a Trait of Character Education. She is the co-author of The Minority Homeschooler’s Guide and Texas Refugee Student Framework.

She obtained a B.S. in Microbiology from University of Texas at Arlington, a M.S. in Education from Peru State College and a doctorate in Education from Texas A & M University at College Station. She is married to Dr. Johnson Obamehinti and they are blessed with three beautiful adult daughters ages, 30, 28 and 27. Dr. Feyi Obamehinti, is an active community volunteer and advocate of under-served communities.