Deep down, fans of celebrity chef Paula Deen had to know that deep-fried cheesecake and hush puppies with bacon were not health food.

But now that the Food Network’s 64-year-old "queen of Southern cooking" has come out of the pantry and acknowledged that she has had Type 2 diabetes for the past three years and is teaming up with Novo Nordisk to endorse its diabetes drug Victoza—a move that has chef Anthony Bourdain skewering her on Twitter—fresh attention is being brought to the disease.

The American Diabetes Association says diabetes affects 25.8 million Americans, or 8.3 percent of the U.S. population. Another 7 million are believed to be undiagnosed, while 79 million more are believed to be prediabetic. Given that prevalence, there is research money for those who are coming up with ways to fight the disease, and startups like Ginger.io, which was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and raised $1.7 million in funding from angel and venture capitalists in October, is one of the beneficiaries.

Anmol Madan, 30, and Karan Singh, 29, are the entrepreneurs behind Ginger.io. They met while they were in graduate school at MIT and have since created a variety of health care mobile apps, including one that helps people with diabetes take care of themselves.

In December, they took home $130,000 after winning the Sanofi-Aventis U.S. innovation challenge for their app, which turns a mobile phone into an automatic self-monitoring tool for passively tracking the real-time movement patterns and social interactions of those with diabetes.

While the level of text messages sent and phone calls made may seem to have nothing to do with diabetes, the app developers’ research found otherwise. Research shows diabetics are twice as likely to suffer from depression as compared to non-diabetics, according to Singh. Signs of social withdrawal can therefore signal a problem.

"Depression often makes it even more challenging to manage their condition or adhere to treatment," he says. "Fortunately, psycho-social support can help."

The fact that the app collects data passively is important because it doesn't require patients, who perhaps are not feeling well, to input information themselves. If it detects unusual behavior, such as a fall in the number of phone calls and texts placed by the diabetic, or the fact that they're home in bed rather than at work, it alerts that person’s caregiver, who is prompted to give them a call and make sure they’re OK. That check-in alone is often enough to make the person feel better and improve their mental state, but naturally, if there is some type of medical problem, individuals within a person’s care network, such as a physician, can help with that too.

That health-social connection was a particular emphasis of study for Madan, the company’s chief executive officer, who graduated with his PhD from MIT in late 2010. Singh, who handles marketing and sales for Ginger.io, earned an MBA from MIT Sloan in the dual-degree Harvard-MIT health science and technology program.

Madan and Singh came up with the name of the company “ginger,” because ginger with honey or ginger with honey and tea was something that Singh’s mother would give him when he was starting to feel sick. It's a favorite Asian remedy that his family, originally from India, brought with them to the United States, where he grew up.

“I was interested in this space where health care and technology and data connect,” said Singh. “I think there has been a surge of startups looking to address problems in health care.”

As for diabetes, in particular, there have been medical-device companies that have helped develop testing strips and numerous startups promoting health and physical activities, which are also part of the self-managed care for diabetics, he said.

Ginger.io is also looking at other illnesses, including Crohn’s disease, and is working with different hospitals to help come up with solutions for patients.

“We’re building a human check-engine light that can detect when you veer from your usual behavior,” Singh says.