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degree at Trinity College Dublin. This
included a medical access exam and
focused on molecular regulation and
muscle health. Minnock admits that
after achieving his Masters he was
a bit unsure what to do next in his
career. By sheer chance, he saw and
advert that Hughes and the team had
put out for a Masters project to prove
the health benefits of the InsulCheck
CLASSIC. His role has in part
been funded by the Irish Research
Council (IRC).
Says Minnock, "I was toying
with doing a PhD or joining one
of the bigger companies in the
medical sector but having seen the
advert for the project and, once I
understood the scope of the device, I
immediately understood the value of
the technology. I couldn't understand
why everyone wasn't getting the
device for free as a matter of course.
I thought, 'let's do the PhD and do the
research as part of that degree'."
Hughes says, "Dean is like a dog
with a bone, he is persistent. While
we had brought the InsulCheck
CLASSIC to market, Dean as
helped push forward the newer
solutions InsulCheck CONNECT and
InsulCheck DOSE."
Minnock started at the company
in January 2016. He says, "Once I
gained a bit of experience, I saw
that the range of pens available was
directly related to the insulin they
delivered and the manufacture of that
insulin. However, the medication is
decided on by the doctor more than
the patient. Ultimately, the pen is just
a means of insulin delivery. From this,
ideas for other new products evolved.
We could see how sensors were
being used as well as apps like bolus
calculators that take out some of the
decision-making for users. It also
became clear that any technology had
to be really simple to use as well as
have evidence for its usefulness."
NEXT ISSUE: In Something New
(part 2) we'll look in greater detail
at Innovation Zed's range of insulin
delivery add-on technologies
and their plans for the company
going forward.
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