Podcast Summary: Diabetes Connections | Type 1 Diabetes

Episode: "It's incredibly exciting" - What's next for Tidepool with CEO Brandon Arbiter
Date: February 17, 2026
Host: Stacey Simms
Guest: Brandon Arbiter (CEO, Tidepool)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the evolution and future direction of Tidepool—a nonprofit, open-source diabetes technology company—under new CEO Brandon Arbiter. Stacey Simms and Brandon discuss Tidepool’s foundational role in diabetes data integration, its FDA-cleared innovations, and exciting new projects, including a major partnership with Oura Ring to explore the connections between sleep, activity, and diabetes—especially in women. The conversation is filled with inside stories, community-focused initiatives, and a vision for more equitable diabetes care.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What Is Tidepool? (05:41–07:49)

• Software Nonprofit: Tidepool creates software to help people with diabetes visualize and manage device data—and consciously operates as a nonprofit to prioritize community over investors.
• Market Perspective: The founder team determined the diabetes tech market was too small for the demands of venture capital, and being a nonprofit helps them "put the diabetes community first."

“Being a nonprofit organization allows us to put the diabetes community first. We've always been able to put the diabetes community first and we will continue to do that.”
— Brandon Arbiter (07:26)

2. Tidepool's Origins (07:49–10:01)

• Data Uploader Solution: Tidepool started in 2013 by solving a crucial problem: there was no way to view insulin pump and CGM data (from different manufacturers) on one screen.
• Growth: The platform quickly expanded support for other devices and now serves nearly a million users.

“Back in 2013...the most popular insulin pump on the market was the Medtronic 523/723. The most popular CGM was the Dexcom G4...there was no software in the world that would let you see data from those two devices on one screen at one time.”
— Brandon Arbiter (08:16)

• Memorable Moment: “If anyone is confused, no, no, they did not work together.”

— Stacey Simms (08:44)

3. Oura Ring Partnership: Integrating Sleep, Activity, and Menstrual Data (10:01–19:24)

• Why Oura Ring? Oura Ring tracks much more than sleep: steps, activity (even distinguishes skiing and hockey), temperature, and menstrual cycles.
• Big Data Donation Project: Over 50,000 users have already donated data to research; now this can be combined with Oura Ring’s wellness metrics.
• Research Goals: Collect longitudinal data on sleep, activity, and menstrual cycles to uncover patterns impacting diabetes, especially in women.

“Through the Tidepool big data donation project and our partnership with Oura, we are looking to recruit thousands of women to donate data...and then make all of that data available to all of the researchers.”
— Brandon Arbiter (16:53)

• Future of Research: By integrating this data, Tidepool aims to fill evidence gaps (e.g., menstrual cycles and insulin resistance) with ambitious new studies starting this year.

4. Loop and the Move from DIY to FDA-Cleared Systems (19:24–27:21)

• Tidepool Loop & SQL Partnership: Transitioned the open-source Loop app from DIY (20,000–30,000 users) to a commercially available, FDA-cleared system on the SQL Twist pump.
• Iterative Collaboration: Tidepool adapts community-built innovations to FDA standards and feeds improvements back to the DIY community (e.g., Loop 3.0).

“Tidepool is like a translation unit. We're taking their innovation and putting it into our process to convert it into what is really an FDA grade medical device.”
— Brandon Arbiter (21:23)

• Regulatory Nuances: Pre-determined change control plans allow timely updates to the system without full FDA resubmission for every change.

5. Favorite Loop Features and Usability (24:04–27:21)

• Notable Features:
  • Apple Watch Control: Bolus directly from your watch – “Being able to bolus from a ski slope...is just phenomenal.” (24:25)
  • Editable Carbs: Only system allowing users to edit carb entries and carb timing efficiently.
  • Meal Timing & Future Forecast: Can retroactively announce meals and view predicted blood glucose to avoid overcorrection.
• Clarification: All features available in both the open-source DIY Loop and SQL’s commercial Twist system.

“It's the simplest user interface, but it's incredibly user friendly and it's still unique on the market.”
— Brandon Arbiter (25:53)

6. Brandon’s Personal Story & the DIY Community (27:21–33:22)

• Origin Story: Misdiagnosed at 27; inspired by work in analytics, developed an early app combining CGM, insulin pump, and Foursquare data to improve restaurant meal bolusing.
• Serendipity & Collaboration: A wedding seating led to Medtronic leadership noticing Brandon’s work, which ultimately connected him to Howard Look (Tidepool founder).

“That was the moment. That was the introduction I got to Howard, who would then become one of my closest friends, my mentor for the last 13 years. And absolutely that changed the trajectory of my life.”
— Brandon Arbiter (31:53)

• Foursquare Connection: The founder’s nephew was later diagnosed with T1D; Brandon shared how Foursquare’s tech inspired Tidepool’s data visualization.

7. Timely Interventions for Diabetes Excellence (TIDE) Project (33:22–37:03)

• Stanford Collaboration: Uses “week-to-week monitoring” to identify early signs of glycemic deterioration and provides timely, personalized outreach—resulted in 1.1% A1C improvement compared to standard 3-month visits.
• Challenges & Rollout: Requires clinical workflow changes, additional staff engagement, and ongoing process refinement by Tidepool.

“You can have real impact on people's lives, even just slotting in time when appointments are canceled at the last minute.”
— Brandon Arbiter (35:57)

8. Leadership Transition & Vision for Tidepool’s Future (37:03–39:50)

• Succession Challenges: Becoming CEO after Howard Look's health-driven step-back was “trial by fire,” with Brandon thrown into HR and organizational management.
• Mission: Raise both the “ceiling” (expand what’s possible for diabetes outcomes) and the “floor” (make sure the most underserved get quality care).

“If we can improve the outcomes that are achievable and then make sure that more people are able to achieve them, we're going to make the diabetes community a much healthier community.”
— Brandon Arbiter (39:35)

9. Community Shout Outs (40:05–41:03)

• Meaningful Organizations: Brandon credits and thanks Breakthrough T1D, Helmsley Charitable Trust, the open-source Nightscout/Loop foundations.

“My greatest privilege is to be able to pay it forward.”
— Brandon Arbiter (40:18)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Data Integration:
  “At the time...each [device] generating about 300,000 data points per year that, frankly, were not being used for anything.”
  — Brandon Arbiter (28:09)

• On the DIY Spirit:
  “We are all standing on the shoulders of giants here. The folks in the open source community who have built Loop...are just some of the great heroes of our community.”
  — Brandon Arbiter (21:23)

• On Gender Equity in Data:
  “I think as a community, I don't even think it's fair to say we've scratched the surface. I think we're at the very beginning. We have so much to learn.”
  — Brandon Arbiter (17:28)

• On Empowerment:
  “You have my phone number. Contact me 24/7. Never hesitate. If you knew how many people have supported me on this journey, your mind would be blown.”
  — Brandon Arbiter (40:13)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 05:41 – Introduction to Tidepool as a software nonprofit
• 08:16 – How Tidepool solved the device data silos in 2013
• 10:18 – Oura Ring partnership and research vision
• 16:53 – Goals for women’s health research and menstrual cycle data
• 19:24 – Tidepool Loop to commercial integration via SQL Twist
• 24:25 – Favorite user-centric features in Loop
• 27:45 – Brandon’s personal journey, analytics background, and meeting Tidepool co-founder
• 33:22 – Stanford’s TIDE project and Tidepool’s scaling of early intervention tools
• 37:18 – CEO transition and Brandon’s vision for inclusion and innovation
• 40:05 – Acknowledgments to diabetes nonprofit and open source communities

Tone & Style

The tone is enthusiastic, open, and community-driven—capturing both Brandon’s personal journey and Tidepool’s commitment to collaboration, transparency, and pushing the boundaries of diabetes tech for everyone.

Conclusion

This episode gives listeners an inside look at diabetes digital health innovation—where it’s come from, the push toward inclusive data-driven care, and a future of more personalized, timely, and community-centered solutions. Brandon Arbiter exemplifies both the technical and human sides of the diabetes tech revolution, and the vision at Tidepool promises continued meaningful change.

For further details and links, refer to the show notes on diabetes-connections.com.