Nexus Meets… DigiBete

In our Nexus Meets series, we chat to members of our community to learn more about them and who they’d like to work with.

Hi, my name is Maddie Julian, and I am the CEO of DigiBete. DigiBete is a diabetes platform that supports children and young people with diabetes. It is centrally commissioned by NHS England and in Scotland, as well as more widely across the UK and Ireland, to provide 24/7 support for children, young people, and their families managing all the complexities of diabetes at home.

So, DigiBete is our video platform and app, providing support for all aspects of self-management, including communication between healthcare teams, patients, and families. We offer clinicians the opportunity to post news updates and share good care guidance. As a community, we support structured education, offering around 400 different learning resources tailored to the needs of our users, from infancy through to age 25.

So, DigiBete is expanding internationally, and this growth has been quite organic due to the publication of our research on resources and diabetes technology.

Additionally, through ongoing conversations and with the support of Nexus and the Health Innovation Network (HIN), we are reaching Arab Health. Currently, we are exploring innovations in the UAE and Norway, with potential opportunities in the US. We have also received interest from Australia and India.

Collaborations are essential, and we naturally work with health innovation networks, charities, national organisations, and the wider Nexus ecosystem. We’re also aiming to strengthen our partnerships with academics. Currently, we’re engaged in a major academic study on the development of the first long-term commissioned chatbot for children and young people. Looking ahead, we hope to collaborate further with the university on internships, additional research, and the development of AI platforms.