Our team has a healthy obsession with diabetes, combined with decades of experience in quantitative and qualitative research. Many of our lives have been touched by diabetes, so we have a personal stake in our work.

Meet the team

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF DIABETES RESEARCH

Our Story

dQ&A was founded in 2009 by Richard Wood and Kelly Close. Richard has years of consulting and market research experience, and previously worked as an executive at Nielsen. Kelly has type 1 diabetes. She is a tireless advocate for patients (she also founded diaTribe) and a leading expert on the diabetes industry.

Their vision was to amplify patient voices, using rigorous and cutting edge research techniques. Other companies treated diabetes like toothpaste, or diapers—just another research project. But they wanted to go much further—to develop a deep understanding of what life was like with diabetes, and speak up for patients so they could make a difference.

Richard and Kelly both believed in “patient power.” They knew they needed to hear from a wide range of people to reflect the diversity of diabetes, so they focused on building a large community and learning from them. dQ&A (for diabetes Questions and Answers) was born.

Over the years, that community has grown to cover nine countries and many thousands of people. Our work guides companies, informs regulators, and inspires innovators. We’re thrilled about the many recent strides in the field, and grateful to have been able to contribute to a number of products in development and on the market. But there’s still a very long way to go.

WHAT SETS US APART

Proprietary Communities

Over the past ten years, we’ve built large, diverse, validated communities of people with diabetes (and their parents and caregivers), in North America and Europe. The size and depth of our communities means we can sample precise groups, while still having enough people for statistically meaningful research. Clients rely on us to reach difficult-to-recruit segments, such as early adopters of a new therapy, as well as very large cross-sections of the diabetes population.

We also have communities of endocrinologists, primary care physicians, and diabetes educators, who provide invaluable expertise and a different perspective on patients’ experiences. All of our respondents have been thoroughly vetted, and because of the strong relationships we’ve developed with them, they go above and beyond to provide honest, thoughtful feedback. We send our thanks to everyone who participates in our work!

WHAT SETS US APART

Diabetes Expertise

Because of our diabetes focus, we instinctively understand our clients’ issues. No learning curve means that we can quickly design studies and provide insightful analysis and recommendations, saving you time and money. So what makes us experts?

Over the past ten years, we’ve talked to thousands and thousands of patients and have closely tracked the diabetes industry, medical field, and regulatory environment. Through lexicon studies, and hard-won experience, we know what language to use to avoid biasing or confusing respondents. And we’ve built a database of tested questions, which have been refined over time with feedback from patients, clients, and healthcare professionals.

CUSTOMERS SPANNING MANY SECTORS

Clients

Diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people and every sector of the economy, so our clients span many industries. We work with Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies, global medical device companies, start-ups and fast-growing innovators in medical technology and drug development, tech companies, research organizations, non-profits, and food and consumer products companies.

We consult for a wide range of teams, from public affairs to marketing to R&D to executive leadership, and have also supported acquisition and investment decisions.

We love working with companies and organizations of all sizes and in all areas of the diabetes field. Supporting a wide range of stakeholders, from the smallest start-up to the largest pharmaceutical company, is important to us, because we want to help drive innovation and access, and to increase patient choice.

You can be sure that data security and privacy is built into every step of our research process. We are GDPR-compliant, experienced in pharmacovigilance and adverse event reporting, and comfortable working with legal and regulatory departments to ensure that our clients’ needs are met.

See What our Customers are Saying About Us

“dQ&A provides the holistic view of the patient – covering all aspects of their diabetes, from therapy use and effectiveness to the emotional and social impacts they describe.”
“dQ&A really provides the insights that drive our business. The results bring us closer to our patients and customers and better enable us to meet their needs, as well as be successful as a business. Our team is always looking for the next data point, and truly enjoy the debrief meetings as an opportunity to learn more.”
“dQ&A’s research is the most robust and insightful review of the diabetes market available.”

Strategic Partners

Diabetes Non-Profits

dQ&A is proud to financially support 38 diabetes non-profits in 9 countries through our work.