Dear Friends,

The Conference is taking shape. Some of the confirmed speakers include:
Chris Saudek (Hopkins), to provide a clinical perspective of devices for blood glucose control;
Bruce Buckingham (Stanford), to review DirectNet data and providing clinical perspectives;
Ken Ward (Isense), speaking on his subcutaneous sensor results;
Russ Potts (formerly Group Leader at Cygnus), to provide an industrial perspective on glucose sensing;
Jeff Josephs (Philadelphia), to provide perspectives on sensor development;
Garry Steil (MiniMed/Medtronic), to speak on closed-loop control systems; and
Michael Albisser (Florida), to provide perspectives on controller development.

In addition to this list of outstanding speakers, several others remain to be confirmed.

To complement the lectures, several informal break-out workshops are planed in which all attendees will be encouraged to contribute. For starters, the following topics have been suggested for discussion.

Session 1: Glucose Monitoring and Sensors
What technical achievements are required to validate sensor performance?
Can performance criteria be established that apply to all monitoring methods? Is there a "gold standard"?
How does continuous sensing relate to discrete sensing? Should the same performance standards apply?
What statistical methods and criteria should be used?
Is the Error Grid method acceptable?
For implantable sensors, how is acceptable biocompatibility defined?
Which measurement site should be used and why?
What is the relationship between blood glucose and tissue glucose? Are dynamics important?

Session 2: Algorithms and Control
What are the performance targets for blood glucose control?
How close to the performance target is acceptable?
What models should be used for controller design?
What are acceptable challenges for controller validation?
How robust must the controller be? What safety standards are appropriate?
What are normal glycemic excursions? How do they relate to control criteria?
Can different general strategies for control be compared?
How can pharmacologic agents be used in conjunction with insulin pumping?

Session 3: What Remains to be Done? Are there Impediments to Further Progress?
What specific technical challenges remain?
Is more basic research needed? If so, in what areas and what type of studies?
What is the perspective of the patient? What is the clinician's view?
Do governmental, regulatory and reimbursement policies help or hinder?
Are there industry-wide impediments? How can they be addressed?
How long will it take? How much will it cost? How will it be funded?

An electronic Suggestion Form is set up for you to post additional topics. It will be updated as the meeting time approaches. Also, if you want submit an abstract yet, there is still time.

We expect that there will be stimulating interactions at that the Conference and we hope that some insightful consensus recommendations will be published.