13-year-old Marylander develops app for children with Type 1 Diabetes
Mendelow used skills he acquired coding video games throughout the summer's stay-at-home and social distancing orders and used it to create an app before he stepped foot out of the hospital.
By ZACHARY KEYSERA blood glucose test is done to check sugar levels in a Type 2 Diabetes patient(photo credit: DARRYL LEJA/NIH/FLICKR)
A 13-year-old boy from Gaithersburg, Maryland has developed an app, named T1D1, to better serve children with Type 1 diabetes.The application software assists those with Type 1 diabetes and their families to calculate, track and report key medical statistics such as insulin dosages, carbohydrate amounts and blood glucose levels, as a universal solution for newly diagnosed children.Drew Mendelow, 13, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in September 2020, shortly after he celebrated his bar mitzvah. While hospitalized at the Children's National Hospital in Washington, he learned that there was not a one-size-fits-all solution for children newly diagnosed with the glucose deficiency to keep note of their daily regimens, and eventually came up with the idea to design his own.Mendelow used skills he acquired coding video games, throughout the summer's stay-at-home and social distancing orders, using the time to create an app before he had even stepped foot out of the hospital.In order to fine tune the app, and to ensure its safety and efficacy, Mendelow worked closely with the hospital's care team, including Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Brynn Marks and nutritionist Alex Richardson, to make sure all the bases were covered when it comes to caring for Type 1 diabetes patients.The T1D1 app was recently published and listed on both the Google Play and Apple App Stores, and has already been downloaded over 2,000 times, holding a firm five-star review. The app is free and its development is being funded by donations - the proceeds of the donations go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.The app is currently in the development stages to provide access outside of the United States, expanding options for units of measurement."My goal was to create something so simple that anyone could use it," Mendelow said. "I want T1D1 to help make life easier for people during such an overwhelming time.""I am so impressed by the diligence, thoroughness and passion that Drew has put into this app," Marks said. "It's proving to be a critical tool for patients. I am excited to see where things go with it. For such a simple, straightforward tool, I think it could have major positive implications in the long term for kids from all walks of life who are facing Type 1 diabetes."
