Do you have a great idea for Type 1 diabetes research? Check out this contest from InnoCentive, which is offering a cash prize of between $2,500 and $5,000 for the best ideas for future projects. The details:
This Challenge is asking InnoCentive Solvers to formulate well-defined problems or hypotheses aimed at advancing our knowledge about Type 1 Diabetes and ultimately eradication of the disease. This is a somewhat unusual Ideation Challenge in the sense that the Solvers are not expected to provide a solution to any problem. Rather, they have to define problems or areas requiring further exploration and research. Ideal problems are those whose eventual solution will greatly expand our knowledge of Type 1 Diabetes and advance our ability to cure/manage the disease. Once formulated, the proposed problems will form the basis of new research projects pursued by scientists at Harvard University and elsewhere.
I’m not sure how scientific these entries need to be (though I doubt, sadly, that one of my personal big questions –why does yogurt affect my blood sugar differently than cottage cheese — would qualify). But still, for all you scientific types, it’s worth checking out. Just keep in mind: the deadline is March 15th.
On a different subject, this morning I went to the Apple Store for a One-to-One training session in the new version of iMovie. As my teacher showed me some of the new features, he made disparaging comments about my personal favorite video editing program, Final Cut Pro. “The new iMovie is just so intuitive,” he kept saying. “It makes Final Cut’s interface look like it’s from, oh, I don’t know, 1999.”
It made me think of my recent experiences with the cutting edge of diabetes software — and how, when it comes to diabetes design, a product reminiscent of 1999 would actually be an improvement. If only Apple had an interest in medical software.
