IN DENVER, CO, EDUCATING THOSE WITH TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETES

The Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes partnered together to bring the EPIC Diabetes Conference back in-person for 2023. Giving patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare providers an in-depth look on improving their diabetes care in an open, supportive environment. Attendees learn through workshops, panels, Q&As, and a keynote presentation with the nation’s top diabetes specialists. This conference is an important part of diabetes education. With so many facets for diabetes care, it’s impossible to learn everything you need to know in quarterly appointments, even after many years of living with the disease.

This year’s conference took place at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel on May 20, 2023. The conference theme was Striving for Lifelong Health, attendees learned about topics such as preventing and managing extreme glucose events, staying happy and fulfilled living with diabetes, and how to take care of the kidneys, brain, and heart.

Dr. Jennifer Sherr, Professor of Pediatrics at Yale University, joined as the keynote speaker to discuss Long-term Strategies for Healthy Living with Diabetes. Dr. Sherr focused on the discovery of insulin, insulin delivery systems, additional therapies to support lowering your A1C, and complications with obesity and cardiovascular health throughout your life.

The EPIC Diabetes Conference features 3 tracks: advanced, adult, and pediatric. Each workshop includes a brief presentation followed by 45 minutes for attendees to ask experts their questions about improving their individual care.

Thank you to King Soopers for providing $10 gift card to all our attendees. A special thanks to our Exhibitors Abbott Diabetes Care, American Diabetes Association, Cequr Simplicity, Diabetes Resource Nurses of Colorado, Connected in Motion, Dexcom, Lilly Diabetes, Medtronic Diabetes, Omnipod, ProventionBio,Tandem Diabetes Care, Type 1 Way Ticket Travel.

This conference was a collaboration between the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Barbara Davis Center. Thank you to the EPIC Committee: Sarit Polsky, MD, Gregory Forlenza, MD, Erin Cobry, MD, Dana Davis, and Regina Reece. A special thanks to Sydney Rickert of CDF, her dedication and hard work coordinating the conference was unprecedented.

“The knowledge that was shared and the fact it was more about asking questions and answering questions than just information given."

"Speakers were knowledgeable about the content presented, encouragement, experiences, and suggestions offered by other parents, length of the presentations, time allowed for questions, lunch, snacks offered, and vendor interaction."

"I enjoyed how well each speaker was prepared with visual aids and the organization of their topics they spoke about."

"The whole conference was wonderfully organized. We learned something in each breakout session, with the keynote speakers and introductory speaker. We particularly appreciated Dr. Greg Forlenza’s technology breakout lecture and the ability to talk with him afterwards."

"My 4 year old son was diagnosed Jan 31 2023, so we are trying to learn as much as possible on ever aspect. The speakers were all great and their ability to answer questions was amazing!"

"I am a school nurse. I appreciate hearing the frustrations that parents feel including those they've overcome and how. This is the 3rd EPIC I have attended, I have learned many things, both from the parents and the professionals, each time."

"Speakers were excellent! I also liked meeting with the vendors during the breaks."

"Adjunctive therapies and technology updates, research studies, opportunities to share ideas and collaborate with other parents and T1D's in the workshop, opportunity to ask questions of speakers and panelists. The content was excellent and very relevant to my current struggle with my Teenaged T1D in the pediatric track."

"The behavioral/ psychological speaker is so helpful! We like the extra time to ask questions. We like meeting other families with T1D kids and talking with them. This year we were so happy to be back in person! At people we had lunch with became fast friends as we shared diabetes stories and supported one another. It’s such a great event!"