Ian Andrews
Ian Andrews is a Lethbridge-based patent lawyer and former biochemist at the University of Lethbridge. We asked to interview Andrews to help us learn what our team would need to do in order to patent “Dia-Beatable” if we were to take the project into the market phase. From the interview with Andrews, our team learned that attaining a patent for “Dia-Beatable” could potentially cost us $25 000! However, if we did decide to get a patent, it would be well worth the costs since we'd be able to have control over what to do with “Dia-Beatable.” Andrews also explained the history of insulin patents in Canada and how the original Canadian team of inventors that invented the mass production of insulin injections sold the patent rights for $1 to ensure the price of insulin would be limited. Though, in other countries such as the United States of America, the Canadian team couldn't secure an American patent leading to insulin prices in the USA being less affordable to diabetics.

Overall, Andrews helped our team develop a plan for attaining a patent if we were to take “Dia-Beatable” into the market phase to try distributing it to the public.

Ian Andrews Interview Notes 


Jane Cresswell
Jane Cresswell is a registered nurse with the Diabetes program in Lethbridge, who focuses on treating Type 1 Diabetes. We wanted to interview Cresswell to learn more about Type 1 Diabetes, beyond what we researched online. Furthermore, we wanted to find personal examples of treating Type 1 Diabetes, which we thought we'd be able to hear from a figure working in the medical field. Cresswell explained that the cause of Type 1 Diabetes was unknown, which greatly surprised our team. And Cresswell also described the current treatments, testing, and developments of Type 1 Diabetes. The interview with Cresswell helped our team gain a deeper understanding of Type 1 Diabetes and how we could potentially develop “Dia-Beatable.” For example, Cresswell explained how Type 1 Diabetes affects each individual differently. Thus, “Dia-Beatable” would also have to adapt to different levels of severity in individuals.

Jane Cresswell Interview Notes


Anna Blakney
Anna Blakney is an assistant professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. She has a focus on the delivery of RNA into human cells and improving the characterization of those delivery tactics. Thus, our team decided to interview Blakney in order to learn more about RNA delivery since “Dia-Beatable” uses RNA delivery to function. Blakney reviewed her previous work in RNA with us and gave advice on how we could possibly test “Dia-Beatable” within safety guidelines. Blakney gave the team an insightful analysis about “Dia-Beatable” which helped us figure out what kind of testing we needed to develop the project. Furthermore, we discussed Blakney’s 2018 publication on molecular bioscience during the interview. Her publication was the direct source from which our team took many sequences for Dia-Beatable's construct design.

 Anna Blakney Interview Notes 


Joanne M
Joanne M is a Pet Technician working at the Green Acres Animal Hospital. As a Pet Technician, Joanne performs a wide range of specialized tasks including but not limited to: surgical assistance, client education, blood and lab work, maintenance, and anesthesia. Our team wanted to research other forms of diabetes to discuss whether “Dia-Beatable” was applicable to them in extension to Type 1 Diabetes. So, to research diabetes in pets we contacted various veterinarian clinics in Lethbridge such as Green Acres. Afterwards, we were able to do a phone interview with Joanne. 

The information we obtained from the interview with Joanne helped our team learn more about pet diabetes. Beforehand, some members of our team didn't even know that Pet Technicians were a profession or what they did. But, we were able to gain a deeper respect for them after learning the amount of jobs they could do! Furthermore, it provided the background for our team's discussion on how “Dia-Beatable” could possibly be applied to pets!

 Joanne M Interview Notes

 Makay Murray 
Makay Murray is a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Stacey Wetmore at the University of Lethbridge. His thesis focuses on nucleic acid aptamers. He kindly provided the team with an introductory review of what aptamers are and how they can be used. Although his work is purely computational, he was still able to explain the theoretical knowledge behind the wet lab procedures of optimizing nucleic acid aptamers. Through this presentation, we gained confidence that using an RNA aptamer would benefit our project.

 Makay Murray Interview Notes

 Gayatri Namala 
Gayatri Namala is a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Ute Kothe at the University of Manitoba (formally at University of Lethbridge). Her thesis focuses on posttranscriptional modifications to RNA. She is also part of the RNA Innovation Program and has worked as an intern at Precision Nanosystems Inc. We interviewed her to learn more about industrial lipid nanoparticle formulations for RNA medicines. 

 Gayatri Namala Interview Notes