Diabuddies wins Rep. Troy Balderson’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in Ohio’s 12th District

When asked what inspired the creation of Diabuddies, the student said, “The inspiration behind creating this app is deeply rooted in my personal experience with diabetes, which unexpectedly became a central part of me and my family’s life when I was diagnosed. Diabetes wasn’t a choice; it was challenging, and thankfully, I was surrounded by family and friends. I was thankful, but I knew that there were people in this world dealing with such a life-changing disease by themselves. I decided that it would be a good use of my skills to help create a system where those who feel alone can meet others coping with this disease.

Throughout creating this web app, I learned about people who were dealing with diabetes through Facebook, Instagram, and X (aka Twitter). The number of people who yearned to make friends with people with diabetes only motivated us to create more and more features to make Diabuddies as useful as possible. 30,000 lines of code later, I thought I had reached that goal. Calculating the amount of insulin you need for a meal is tedious and prone to error, so I decided to use the latest LLM artificial intelligence to help make that process easier. Since the beginning of Diabuddies, I aimed to create not just a piece of software but a supportive partner on our collective journey with diabetes. I aspire to transform the management of diabetes into a healthier and more hopeful experience. I am excited to share a vision for diabetes care that uplifts lives.”