Joel S. Douglas is an American patent agent and business executive who pioneered the first alternate-site glucose meter used to treat millions of Americans affected by diabetes.^[1][2]

Douglas graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1977 and earned his master's degree in computer science from the University of New Haven in 1982.

As a program manager at Johnson & Johnson's blood glucose monitoring company, LifeScan, Douglas was part of the team that won the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence in 1995. LifeScan was later purchased for $2.1 billion by the global investment firm Platinum Equity in 2018.

In 1996, Douglas and Karen Drexler co-founded the diabetes monitoring company Amira Medical Inc. The company was a privately held corporation with about 160 employees. In 2001, Amira Medical was acquired by the Swiss healthcare company Roche for an undisclosed sum.^[3]

In 2004, Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MD+DI) named Douglas as one of the 100 most notable people in the medical device industry. He is the inventor on 103 patents.

Douglas is a member of the University of Connecticut Academy of Distinguished Engineers and currently sits on the board of directors for the National Association of Patent Practitioners.^[4]

Joel is currently the founder and president of Menlo Park Patents, a patent services provider.

In 2010, Joel and his wife Heidi established the Joel S. and Heidi S. Douglas Engineering Scholarship at the University of Connecticut.^[5]