Drew Mendelow (00:01.119)
well give me a thumbs up.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (00:03.131)
Okay.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (00:06.792)
All right, hopefully that's good, right? Okay, okay, thank you. Cool, okay, so then I will go straight into intro and then we'll just kind of get rolling from there. Okay, ready? Okay, on this episode, we're talking, actually, you know what? I wanna make sure I'm pronouncing your last name right. Is it Mandelo? Mandelo, thank you. I like to make sure, Mandelo.
Drew Mendelow (00:19.534)
Okay. Yeah.
Drew Mendelow (00:30.891)
Mendelow. Yeah. I appreciate you asking before.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (00:36.38)
Yeah, I know. I like having my name pronounced correct, so I appreciate when other people do it. So, Mendelow. Okay, cool. Restart. On this episode, we're talking to Drew Mendelow, founder of T1D1. He's a Georgia Tech computer science student whose nonprofit created the first FDA-cleared, free insulin dosing and diabetes management tools designed specifically for people living with type 1 diabetes.
Drew Mendelow (00:40.43)
Yeah.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (01:03.282)
Drew's journey from teen coder to tech innovator is personal, powerful, and reshaping how T1Ds navigate daily care. Thanks for joining us today, Drew. I am so excited. And if this sounds like a plan, let's jump right in, okay?
Drew Mendelow (01:18.114)
Yeah, I'm really excited to be here. Thanks for having me.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (01:19.624)
Absolutely. So, you classic intro. Tell us about your type 1 diabetes diagnosis and how it motivated you to build something so incredible like T1D1.
Drew Mendelow (01:31.342)
Yeah, sure. So my diagnosis was a pretty, I'm sure, shared story that a lot of people have. I was peeing a lot more. I was drinking a bunch more water. But the main thing was that I lost 10 pounds. And this was five years ago now. So I was 13 at the time. And that was like my growth spurt. that's the weight loss was kind of the real factor where I was like, okay, I should probably see a doctor.
I went to the doctor, you I was playing soccer that whole summer. So I was like the peeing and drinking could just because of soccer. and they just, they took my blood sugar, rushed me straight to the hospital. and that's where I was diagnosed with type one. And it was really weird for me because I felt completely normal. You know, I, I wasn't like, I wasn't in like full DKA. I was, I felt like normal. I was living like that for probably weeks or maybe months. I don't even know.
And then I was just, you know, laying in a hospital bed and they're throwing all these terms at me, giving me calculations. It was really just a lot for me at the beginning. And I'm sure for everyone else who was diagnosed as well, I really understand that feeling. But it was really in the hospital there where I was, you know, 13 and I was like, there has to be some kind of app to help me manage this better. More specifically for the calculation side of it. That was mainly what I was looking for.
And I looked around, I asked my doctors there in the hospital and there really wasn't anything that met my needs. And so a lot of them were like, you you needed technology, like insulin pumps, for example, have calculators in them, but you need the insulin pump or some of them need to pay for. So there just really wasn't anything free, just really trying to help you right from day one. So that's where the idea sprouted. And over that summer, right before I was diagnosed, I started messing around with coding video games.
just kind of for fun. I was a big gamer, so I was like, why not try to code them? And so that's where I was like, I have a bit of coding experience, nothing with apps, but why not try, you know? And so it all kind of started as a joke with my doctor saying, yeah, I'll make this app. And so then the day I went home, the next day after getting diagnosed, that's when I actually started working on the app, just kind of messing around, seeing if I can do it. And over that week, that's where I realized I could actually make this app.
Drew Mendelow (03:43.758)
And so that's where the whole idea sprouted and I really wanted to, I just wanted to help others in my position. And my real goal at the beginning was just if I could help one other person in my position, that was, it was worth it for me. Like I, my original goal for downloads for the app was like a hundred users. Um, and now it has around 50,000, which is really awesome. But that's the whole, that's the whole origin story of the app, I guess, before really fully like deep, deep dive into it.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (04:05.768)
Thank
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (04:12.72)
Yeah, congratulations. You very quickly took the lemons you were given and made lemonade. I'm so impressed by that and so appreciative of how wonderful your intentions were and clearly look at what you have created and now T1D1 is FDA cleared. That's awesome. And what exactly does that mean for users or maybe for the broader diabetes community?
Drew Mendelow (04:37.228)
Yeah. So FDA clearance is huge. Obviously going into it, I didn't realize it needed to be FDA cleared. I was 13 and you know, the app isn't like physically giving you the insulin itself. So I didn't think it would need to be FDA cleared. But I realized after six months after it was released, Apple actually made me take it down because I needed FDA clearance. And that's when I realized that's, that was the main reason why there were no other apps already out there. And so most of the people would either quit there or it wasn't worth their time and money.
in their minds, I guess, to create the app and get it FDA cleared. So getting it FDA cleared, it's been a long journey for me. It literally took five years, but it was very huge for the app. It allows users to be more confident that the app is fully accurate and it's fully doing everything that it needs to do to make sure they're managing correctly. And it also really improves confidence for the hospitals and doctors as well who are promoting the app and recommending it to their patients.
That was huge for me because my goal for the app is right when you're diagnosed to have the app as a free tool to use if you want. And if you don't, that's fine too. It's just there if you need it to help manage your stress and anxiety and having the doctors and hospitals, you know, on board and really behind it with, you know, the clearance, approving accuracy and making sure they're all good with the app. That's huge. So can get it right at day one because right when you're diagnosed, you know, you're not really searching.
the entire internet for something exactly what you need. know that the doctors are really there to give it to you on day one. So FDA clearance was very huge to overall make everyone more confident and make sure the app is really safe for all.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (06:17.296)
Yeah, and that I know that trust is huge and clearly that that makes a whole lot of sense to me. This is a world I don't know very much about. So I really appreciate you telling us more. And I feel like you're almost even telling us like I'm hearing from you like this. This could improve the daily life of someone with T1D. Maybe could you talk us through a little bit more specifically about what someone might be able to do once they're in the app? What do they do? What can they do? What does it help them with?
Drew Mendelow (06:46.604)
Yeah, sure. So the app is pretty simple overall. My goal of creating it wasn't to make it too overcomplicated. I wanted teens who are my age or even younger to be able to use it right when they're diagnosed and not be really overwhelmed. So the basic functions is to be able to calculate your insulin. You enter your customized settings. So, you know, your blood glucose target, your correction factor and your carb ratio. And then whenever you need to take your insulin, you just enter your blood sugar.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (06:46.792)
Thank
Drew Mendelow (07:15.662)
and how much carbs you're eating, if you are eating any. And then you click calculate and it tells you how much insulin you need to take based on your settings. And you can easily just click log and it adds it to a whole log for you. So you can track everything, send it to your medical providers, hospitals, whatever you need. That was really important for me actually, because when I was diagnosed, I had to do a phone call with them every morning, leave a voicemail for the last day of like five readings. And it was really just a nightmare. So I made sure to make it a lot easier to send to your doctors.
And then the last functionality is a, it's a pretty simple food library, I call it. It's not a huge database of all the foods you can eat. A lot of people get confused with that, but it's really just a place where if you have common foods every day, you can enter how much carbs they are. And it really just helps you carb count without having to calculate each part of the food every single time. So those, those are the main functions of the app. There's a lot more bells and whistles now.
There's a lot more features like shared accounts and offline capability that I've added. But the main idea is it's insulin calculator that allows you to track everything and send it easily to your doctor with your own settings.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (08:25.244)
That is incredible. And I really appreciate that you are making the T1D experience just a little simpler, a little easier, little more digestible. That is so cool. And we always need more of that. So thank you for doing what you're doing. Again, incredible is maybe an understatement. It's truly so impressive what you're doing. And with 50,000 users now, dude, that's insane. So.
Honestly, give us the tea. What's the feedback that you've received from users, especially teens, parents? What's stuck with you?
Drew Mendelow (09:00.738)
Yeah, I've gotten a lot of feedback over the years. The early stages, when it first released those first six months, I was getting two to three emails every single day. A lot of them were just saying how much the app has helped their life and they're really appreciative of it. But my favorite stories that I always tell, there was a mother who reached out to me and her daughter has type one and just got diagnosed. So she got the app.
And because she had the app now, her mother felt safe letting her daughter sleep at her grandparents' Because before, without the app, she didn't feel like the grandparents could calculate confidently. And with the app, she was fully assured that she would be okay and safe. And so that was really heartwarming for me. I mean, it was literally bringing families together in my mind. That was really cool to hear. But another story that was more recent actually, there was an elderly person who reached out to me.
and they actually have dementia. And so they had to go from an insulin pump back onto MDI. And because of that, was really hard for them to manage. So they went on T1D1 and it really just helped them a lot. could see if they took insulin before, so they weren't double dosing. And it really dumbed it down and made it very easy for them. So it wasn't too much stress on them. So that was really cool to hear. And then there's also just...
Some more cases that I've heard from, from multiple different people, like one, for example, is school nurses. I've heard multiple different school nurses who, know, obviously they're familiar with type one, but they might not know exactly how to manage it. So when they use the app and they can help their students make sure they're all safe and endorsing accurately while at school. there's, there's just a couple more cases like that, which is just really cool for me to hear. And stuff like that is, you know, I didn't intend for that originally. That's not what I thought of when I originally made the app.
But it's really cool for me to hear that it's really branching out and just reaching more kind of situations and helping more people.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (11:03.44)
That's awesome. That's awesome. And I think that's one of the coolest things is when we create something, it can morph into something that we never even realized it would in the best kinds of way. And so you're helping so many people, but I'm also curious about you. You're a computer science student, correct? At Georgia Tech? Okay. So love the background, by the way, if anyone's just listening, we've got a classic dorm background, which is
Drew Mendelow (11:23.512)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (11:32.008)
I'm so about it. honestly, how do you balance college classes and by the way leading a nonprofit tech project?
Drew Mendelow (11:43.052)
Yeah, it's been a lot for me. Definitely the first month once I moved to college, that was a big change for me. Honestly, outside of T1D1, everything was changed. I'm moving to a different area. I'm from the DC area, so moving down to Atlanta was a big change for me. No friends, I had to fully restart. So that's been a lot. And then also adding on T1D1 calls and all this media and working on future updates.
It really is a lot. I have a lot on my plate. I have to do classes. I'm involved in two clubs. Right now I'm actually doing an internship full time. So I'm actually not taking classes this semester. And there really is just a lot for me to manage, but I found ways to kind of settle in, manage my stress, become a lot more organized. That was huge for me. I, for example, in, I started using the calendar app on my phone and my computer a lot more in high school. You know, I've never really touched the app before.
But I have calls now and I have work and I have homework due. I really have to get more organized. So that's really helped me a lot just to stay on top of things. And then also having, I have like a note for like a to-do list kind of thing and it's by priority and I have assignments and finals and all the deadlines for everything. So I really just gotten more organized, which has allowed me to stay on top of things and also helped me be less stressed. So that was definitely huge for me.
But it is a lot on my plate and I am still actively figuring things out.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (13:14.162)
Yeah, and that's, think all of life, if anyone disagrees, let us know in the comments, but figuring it out is exactly what we're all doing. And I'm very impressed. It sounds like you're really, you are figuring it out. It'll never feel perfect, but you're being intentional. You're doing wonderful things. That's fantastic. And okay, I'm trying to think. I have so many questions and I'm just, again, so inspired by this app. And I know that,
access and cost are huge barriers, especially when it comes to diabetes care. And I believe that you mentioned that the app is free, right? So can you talk a little bit more about how you're helping to address kind of the diabetes culture with this app and knowing that that's a huge barrier?
Drew Mendelow (14:01.664)
Of course. Yeah. So barriers and access to care was one of the main, found foundations I would say of my motivation to create T1D1. When I first created it, my mission from the very beginning was to make sure it was completely free with no ads at all, because I wanted access to this care to be, you know, available to as many people as possible. There shouldn't be cost or, you know, access to wifi or any other, any other factors that are blocking you from
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (14:04.808)
Thank
Drew Mendelow (14:30.754)
care that you need. And so with my app, you know, it's, it's completely free. I mentioned a little bit earlier, I made a offline capability recently. So there are accounts in the app, which, which you need wifi to, you know, register or log into an account. But once you're in, you can go to an area where there's no access to wifi and still use the app exactly the same. And then when you get back to an area, it'll sync back up, but this just really allows anyone, it allows a much broader audience.
And that is something I was, I was requested to do, to have some kind of offline capability to remove even more barriers, and, know, reach other audiences. And there really is a lot more people that I didn't realize originally that would benefit from the app a lot more than, than some people in the U S even like there is areas, like I'm talking to people in Pakistan and some South American countries where.
Access to care is very minimal and honestly, access to education is also very minimal too, which is a huge problem. But T1D1, know, a lot of these people do have phones, so they could use T1D1, get more educated and really have a better management system and become more confident in managing a disease and overall become healthier. mean, there's a huge problem with mortality rate in a lot of third world countries because of type one itself. And so this app could definitely help that.
make them more comfortable with this disease.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (16:01.0)
Wow, that is incredible. if I'm hearing you right, you said that someone requested this. you, by a request, you created even more access. That is so cool. And I know that that happened kind of recently. So I think the question is, what is next for T1D1?
Drew Mendelow (16:21.784)
So there is two main things that is currently on my plate for the short-term future of T1D1. And it's all aligned again with removing barriers. originally when I released the app, it reached 74 different countries, which was amazing. But then when it got taken down for needing FDA clearance, now it's only in the US because it's only FDA cleared. So I'm working on getting the other regulations needed for more countries again.
For example, the CE mark is what's needed in Europe. In a lot of other countries, you have to go through their government systems to get it regulated there.
I'm sorry. And the other main thing that I'm working on in the future is translating the app into different languages. So this again reaches a lot more people. I would argue more than spreading it to different countries. This is something I've been requested from the very beginning. Definitely Spanish is up on the list, there's translations really just unlocks it
entirely different population that could benefit from that.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (17:32.232)
Okay, and my immediate thought, if you don't have an answer, that's okay, but my immediate thought hearing that is I know I've worked with clients all over the globe. I've worked with folks in Australia, Hong Kong, the UK, Canada, Puerto Rico, and so many other places, and the units of measure are different themselves. So is that something that might also be an option in the future, like milligrams per deciliter versus millimoles per liter?
Drew Mendelow (18:01.824)
Yes, so actually right now in the app, it already has that capability, which is awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (18:06.93)
That's incredible. my goodness. Wow, you are seriously crushing it. And I think people have to know, of course there'll be some info in the show notes, but how can people download your awesome app and follow along with you to learn more?
Drew Mendelow (18:24.162)
Yeah, so you can download in the App Store or Google Play Store if you just search T1D1. And if you go to T1D1.org, you can learn all about it and you can donate too if you're feeling very generous.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (18:36.398)
Awesome. Yes, please find that in the notes down below t1d1.org or on the app store of whatever phone or device you use. This has been incredible. I'm so excited for you and so excited for all that I know you will accomplish. So Drew, thanks for what you're doing and thanks for taking time out of your very busy schedule to be with us today. I really appreciate it.
Drew Mendelow (19:02.018)
Thank you very much. It was super excited to talk with you and share a bit about my app.
Madi Cheever - TypeOneTypeFun (19:06.84)
Absolutely. Well, everyone, you know what to do. Go to the show notes, take some action, download an app, and I'll see you next time.
