February 6, 2026

Participants: Francesco Vendrame, Carla Demeterco-Berggren, Georgia Davis, Devin Steenkamp, Malek El Muayed, Patrick Hanley, David Broome, Siham Accacha, Dona Eng, Tami Hannon, Jenise Wong, Nes Mathioudakis, Meredith Wilkes, Andrea Mucci, Cynthia Herrick, Emma Edmondson, Gwendolyne Jack, Shideh Majidi, Carrie Schulmeister, Todd Alonso, Farahnaz Joarder, Jacqueline Lonier, Betul Hatipoglu, Alissa Guarneri, Naomi Fogel, Marina Basina, Manu Kamboj, Kristina Cossen, Lily Chao, Vana Raman, Jon Oden, Janine Sanchez, Jason Ng, Grazia Aleppo, Grace Nelson, Deborah Plante, Anna Neyman, Nicole Rioles, Timothy Bol, Claire Rainey 

Slides: https://t1dx-qi.t1dexchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Clinical-Leadership-2.6.2026.pdf  

Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/c-aaZxRR1yNUpad_5yaOpHl2seBoV7193Dk_ic84hXogWrGk-v62Qh4ukyzp-HVT.8oWAdbbjhHT86T7j  

Password: i6#+@k@f 

Welcome and Introductions 

• Dr. Vendrame reviewed the meeting agenda and introduced Nestoras Mathioudakis, MD, MHS and Jenise Wong, MD, PhD 

• Drs. Mathioudakis and Wong shared brief remarks about their new roles as Medical Advisors. 

• They expressed enthusiasm for: 

• Identifying new priorities and clinical problems 

• Enhancing data efforts and funding opportunities 

• Leading impactful work within the collaborative 

• Working closely with the T1DX team and PIs across the collaborative 

  

Kaiser Permanente Collaboration (Early-Stage Discussion) 

• Nicole Rioles shared updates on potential partnership opportunities with Kaiser Permanente (early exploratory phase) 

• Key points: 

• Connection established with Tina Davis, PhD, MPH; she is our primary contact in Georgia 

• Potential collaborations with other Kaiser Permanente regions to co-author publications 

• Dr. Demeterco-Berggren described her work with Kaiser on the West Coast 

• Dr. Alonso expressed interest in being involved. Strong alignment with KP in CO. 

• Several centers have adult and pediatric pairings that could support this work 

• Idea originated from the 2025 Learning Session and is being explored as an opportunity 

• Potential opportunity to partner with https://www.hcsrn.org/, where KP data resides 

• Next steps: 

• Identify Kaiser connections in additional states 

• Leverage Kaiser data to conduct analyses and better demonstrate outcomes 

• Use de-identified and aggregated data for analysis 

• Involve individuals with expertise in health systems and resources 

• Explore opportunities to incorporate health economics data that helps us tell the story of the strong process/outcomes outputs using QI 

• Develop justification for time and resources required to support this work 

  

Engagement Scorecards and Faculty Engagement 

• Claire Rainey presented on engagement scorecards 

• Dr. Vendrame noted a strong sense of belonging tied to engagement 

• Discussion themes: 

• Barriers faced by individual centers may be shared across the network 

• Opportunities for networking and collaboration 

• Professional growth, including academic promotion 

• Strategies to advocate for junior faculty and clinical staff participation and recognition 

  

Discussion around Recognition, Promotion, and Faculty Support 

• Dr. Mathioudakis proposed drafting a letter template for PIs to support national recognition and promotion 

• Using benchmarking to identify underperformance and resource gaps 

• Developing nomination letters 

• Dr. Wong emphasized giving appropriate credit while helping junior faculty avoid overcommitment 

• Dr. Demeterco-Berggren highlighted the need to attract early-career faculty 

• Highlighting a fellow or “fellow award” at learning sessions 

• Dr. Chao shared that participation in QI initiatives has helped reduce burnout 

• QI offers meaningful opportunities for change 

• Nicole Rioles discussed committee membership opportunities, creating new named roles for engagement opportunities and career development 

• Dr. Mathioudakis noted the need for funds to support engagement-building and pipeline development 

• Dr. Jack asked whether a committee focused on pipeline opportunities would be valuable 

• Dr. Hannon raised concerns about lower compensation for endocrinologists compared to other specialties 

• The importance of advocacy for salary increases 

• The need to cultivate passion for endocrinology early in medical training 

  

Blue Circle Health (BCH) 

• Blue Circle Health continues to expand and is now active in 20 states. 

• Discussion points: 

• What level of influence the collaborative can have on BCH’s expansion 

• Potential collaboration with BCH 

• Drs. Vendrame and Demeterco-Berggren shared their experiences with BCH 

• BCH is not currently available in California. 

• Dr. Demeterco-Berggren discussed the added value of what BCH could bring for peds patients entering adult care, when there is sometimes a care/insurance gap. BCH can be a great bridge. 

  

Beta Cell Preservation Work Group 

• Dr. Demeterco-Berggren provided updates: 

• Commentary under review in Diabetes Technology & Obesity Medicine. 

• White paper released in February 

• Goal to expand data sharing to include Stage 1 and Stage 2 metrics across the collaborative 

  

Future Priority for the Clinical Leadership Committee: RPM Implementation Playbook 

• Dr. Mathioudakis proposed developing a playbook for implementing Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), including: 

• Appropriate billing codes 

• Staffing models 

• Patients per FTE 

• Cost-effective implementation strategies 

• Comparison of reimbursement across: 

• CGM interpretation 

• RPM billing codes 

• DSMT billing codes 

 

Next Meeting: Friday May 8th 11-12pm EST