• Tweet

• Tweet

November 14 marked a big day not only for the diabetes community but also for us at Sanofi US. We supported the day with a series of events at our Bridgewater, NJ campus that demonstrated our commitment to improving the lives of those living with diabetes.

The day kicked-off with employees gathered for an “open mic” session led by our own Bruce Braughton, VP of marketing, who gave an update on our diabetes business. Afterwards, Anne Whitaker, president of North America pharmaceuticals, reiterated our company’s commitment to the field of diabetes, and Sanofi’s Robert Cuddihy, MD, gave an inspirational and very telling presentation on the state of diabetes in the U.S. Bob’s message, in particular, moved me to reconfirm my commitment to eating right and getting more active. And that message carried through in the healthy meal options our cafeteria prepared for World Diabetes Day specifically!

Then, I got a chance to introduce the winners of our Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge, Ginger.io. The principles, Anmol Madan and Karan Singh, were presented their prize of $100,000 and up to one month at the new Rock Health incubator in San Francisco to continue their work on the Ginger.io mobile app. In the words of Hilary Mason, chief scientist of Bit.ly and a Challenge judge, “This is an app that demonstrates a fundamentally new technical innovation with wide applications.”

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Cherise Shockley, founder of DSMA. If you haven’t noticed, I’m a huge fan of Cherise and it was beyond amazing to meet her in person and listen to her story about the importance of the diabetes online community and why she founded DSMA. After the interview, several “open mic” attendees assembled in our lobby’s atrium for a group photo which included another very special guest, NBA legend Darryl Dawkins, who is part of the Dribble to Stop Diabetes educational program. Darryl then led the crowd in a walk around our campus!

The day capped off with a showroom of tables featuring various diabetes assets and programs such as our GoMeals mobile application, our Diabetes Help Team, and guests from the American Diabetes Association and Walgreens. As a special treat, Darryl Dawkins was joined by another NBA legend, Walt Frazier, at a Dribble to Stop Diabetes table where they signed autographs and took pictures.

Throughout this whirlwind of a day, employees at Sanofi US were reminded that the focus of our efforts in the field of diabetes has been, and will continue to be, on you! In the end, all that we do needs to benefit people living with diabetes and World Diabetes Day served as a great reminder of that for us all.

All the best,

Laura K.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2011 at 5:00 am and is filed under General, Services. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.