EPISODE 84
Jeffrey Brewer couldn’t accept the limits on technology when his son first was diagnosed with diabetes.
Back in 2002, commercial airliners could almost land themselves and nuclear plants were automated. Yet the process of measuring glucose blood levels and injecting insulin were still determined by patients and families who were forced to do the math and administer the life-saving medicine themselves.
That frustration pushed the start-up veteran into a career change – focusing his energy and efforts on treating diabetes.
According to Bigfoot Biomedical, Brewer would be known as the “Father of the Artificial Pancreas,” the project he launched in his time as a volunteer, donor, and international board member for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, where he served as CEO from 2011 to 2014.
But advances in mobile technology and glucose monitoring led Brewer back into the start-up world, this time heading up Bigfoot Biomedical.
The start-up is building a device around a “hack” performed by Chief Product Officer Bryan Mazlish that allowed him to safely monitor his own son’s diabetes through his cell phone.
Now Bigfoot Biomedical is working to build a network-based solution to diabetes management.
Podcast Guest
Jeffrey Brewer
President & CEO
Bigfoot Biomedical
After founding two successful technology startups and dedicating his time to global philanthropy organizations, Jeffrey Brewer was facing the greatest challenge of his life - the diagnosis of his seven-year-old son Sean in 2002. Diabetes would become the new focus for his energy. Known as the “Father of the Artificial Pancreas,” the project he launched in his time as a volunteer, donor, and international Board Member for JDRF, Jeffrey Brewer is perhaps best known in the diabetes community for his time spent serving in the role of JDRF’s CEO from 2011 to 2014.
In the role of CEO of JDRF, Jeffrey forged financial partnerships with industry to drive research and development of insulin delivery and glucose monitoring technologies. He further spearheaded US regulatory reform in the area of automated insulin delivery, and elevated the organization’s strategic priorities to include health care policy, reimbursement, and access to technology for people with T1D. He joined in the founding of Bigfoot because he felt that industry could and should do more in each of these areas, marrying the best of our technologies to automate the management of diabetes, and making it available to the greatest number of people in need.
Meet Our Host
STEPHEN KRUPA
Healthegy Contributing Host Stephen Krupa is CEO of Healthedge, a software company focused on providing next-generation, business-transforming technology products to the healthcare payor market.