Anthology Contributors

DIRECTOR
DIVISION OF DIABETES TRANSLATION; CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

Dr. Ann L. Albright assumed the position of Director, Division of Diabetes Translation (DDT) in January 2007. She received her doctoral degree in Exercise Physiology from the Ohio State University. Dr, Albright completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship in nutrition at the University of California, Davis and a clinical internship in nutrition at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

RHEUMATOLOGY FELLOW,
THE JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Brittany Adler is a Rheumatology Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins. She received her MD from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

DIRECTOR OF POPULATION HEALTH
WELLMED

Dr. Osman (“Ozzie”) Ahmed, MD, MPH, the director of population health at WellMed, studied at Cairo University, where he received his MD. He graduated from Zagazig University with a Master’s degree in public health. He then continued on to the University of Pittsburgh, earning a doctorate degree in public health and epidemiology. He was an associate flight surgeon at NASA from 1993 to 1994.

MD CANDIDATE
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

Melissa An is an MD candidate at the University of Missouri, where she is involved in leading the student-run clinic and global health interest group. She worked at Close Concerns as an Associate after graduating from Dartmouth College in 2014, with a major in Neuroscience and minor in the Anthropology of Global Health. At Close Concerns, she was promoted to Senior Associate in 2015 and served as the lead associate on obesity and public health coverage as well as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. In her undergraduate years at Dartmouth, Melissa explored her interests for global health by leading Dartmouth’s chapters of GlobeMed and China Care, in addition to serving as Executive Director of the Dartmouth Global Leadership Program.

NUTRITIONAL BIOCHEMISTRY, DIABETOLOGY, NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
ALEXANDRIA UNIVERSITY

Dr. Samir H. Assaad-Khalil is a Professor of Internal Medicine at the Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine Unit of Diabetes and Metabolism. He is a member of the Council of the Diabetes Education Study Group (DESG) and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Egyptian Association of Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism and has authored over 150 publications in the field of diabetes, lipidology, and metabolic diseases.

SENIOR STRATEGY SCIENTIST, US HEALTH OUTCOMES CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY

Dr. Sanjay Bajpai is a Senior Strategy Scientist, US Health Outcomes Engagement at Eli Lilly and Company. He studied at Ohio State University, where he earned his MS in Pharmaceutical Administration, his MABA in Marketing, and finally his PhD in Pharmaceutical Administration. He works part time as an Instructor for the Art of Living, a teen empowerment program.

CONSULTANT DIABETOLOGIST
DASMAN DIABETES INSTITUTE, KUWAIT

Dr. Abdullah Ben Nakhi, works with the Dasman Diabetes Institute, which was established to address the growing diabetes epidemic – the fastest growing chronic condition – in Kuwait. The Dasman Diabetes Institute works to prevent, control, and mitigate the impact of diabetes and related conditions in Kuwait through research, education, and health promotion programs.

SENIOR RESEARCHER, TEAM LEADER
STENO DIABETES CENTER, COPENHAGEN

Dr. Paul Bloch, is a Senior Researcher and Team Leader at the Steno Diabetes Center, Copenhagen, focusing on health promotion.

PROFESSOR EMERITUS, PHARMACOTHERAPY DEPARTMENT; DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF PHARMACY
WSU COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

R. Keith Campbell a professor in the Pharmacotherapy Department at Washington State University. He earned his Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Business Administration at Washington State University. In 1990, he was presented with the President’s Faculty Excellence Award for public service

CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NURSING
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Karis Casseus is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing and is enrolled at Georgia Regents University studying to earn her Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing. She received her BS at Georgia State University in Nursing, and her Master’s degree in Nursing at Mercer University. She appeared in the 2016 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

EXECUTIVE VICE DEAN FOR ACADEMICS AND CHAIR OF MEDICAL EDUCATION
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. Susan “Sue” Cox, MD, MA, is the Executive Vice Dean for Academics and Chair of Medical Education of The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. She also serves as President of the Alliance for Clinical Education. Prior to joining UT Austin, Dr. Cox worked for 23 years at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where she served as Regional Dean of Austin Programs. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal Fetal Medicine. She received her MD from Baylor College of Medicine, MA in Genetics and Cell Biology from University of Texas Medical Branch, and BSc from West Texas State University.

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
VANDERBILT PROGRAM IN INTERPROFESSIONAL LEARNING, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Heather Davidson, PhD, is the Director of Program Development for the Vanderbilt Program in Interprofessional Learning at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She previously worked as the Manager of Strategic Initiatives at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Davidson earned her PhD in Community Psychology and Program Evaluation from Vanderbilt University, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree.

MD/MBA CANDIDATE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PERELMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND WHARTON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Jessica Dong is a current MD/MBA candidate and University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Wharton School. She worked at Close Concerns from 2012-2014 after graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College with a BA in Biological Sciences and a minor in Environmental Studies.

COORDINATOR OF THE M.ED HEALTH PROMOTION
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, ST. AUGUSTINE

Dr. Bernice Dyer-Regis is the current Coordinator of the M.Ed Health Promotion Programme at the University of the West Indies, with over twenty years combined experience in the public health sector and in academia, developing and implementing health promotion/health education programs with communities, schools and groups in collaboration with other sectors. Her research interests focus on lifestyle issues pertaining to health and wellness such as obesity and diabetes as well as issues related to population aging.

PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO

Dr. Steven Edelman is a professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of California, San Diego. He is Director of the Diabetes Care Clinic at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego as well as the founder and director of Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD). In 2009, he was named Educator of the Year at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.

PROFESSOR
FAMILY COMMUNITY MEDICINE, UCSF SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Lawrence Fischer is the Director of the Behavioral Diabetes Research Group in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, where he also serves as a Professor in Family Community Medicine. His primary research activity addresses the social, behavioral, self-management support and care system factors that affect the management of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes among adults.

PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BEHAVIOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

Dr. Edwin Fisher, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Fisher has wide-ranging research interests. He works alongside Patrick Tang, serving as global director of Peers for Progress, a program that documents the benefits of peer support in diabetes management and conducts diverse activities to promote peer support around the world. Over his career, Dr. Fisher has led multiple large and influential research projects. Among the topics he has researched are chronic disease prevention, management and quality of life, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, smoking and weight management. He earned his PhD in 1972 in clinical psychology at the State University of New York, and in 1968 graduated from Amherst College with a BA in psychology.

HEAD OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT
INSTITUTE IDIPAZ, HOSPITAL UNIVERSITY LA PAZ (MADRID)

Dr. Rafael Gabriel Sánchez is the Head of the Research Methodology Unit at Universidad Autónoma in Madrid. He is the Head of Clinical Epidemiology Unit at Instituto IdiPAZ at Hospital Universitario La Paz. He is also a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the National School of Public Health in Spain, a visiting professor at National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, and serves on the Scientific Committee of Patia Diabetes. He has published over 200 original scientific articles in journals with impact in the areas of epidemiology and prevention of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, aging and risk factors.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
FAMILY AND PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING AND NURSING ADMINISTRATION DIVISION, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. Alexandra A. Garcia, PhD, RN, is an Associate Professor in the Family and Public Health Nursing and Nursing Administration Division. She is the director of the master’s public health nursing concentration and coordinates study abroad programs for the School of Nursing. Dr. Garcia received her Diploma in Registered Nursing from The Union Memorial Hospital School of Nursing; her Bachelor’s of Science from The College of Notre Dame of Maryland, and her Master’s of Science from The University of Maryland at Baltimore. She earned her PhD in nursing from The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing.

DIRECTOR
PRIMARY CARE-POPULATION MEDICINE PROGRAM

Dr. Paul George, MD, MHPE, is the Director of the Primary Care-Population Medicine Program and Director of second year Integrated Medical Science curriculum at the Brown University Alpert Medical School. He also serves as an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Brown. He completed his residency training in Family Medicine at Brown where he was Chief Resident. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, where he also earned his medical degree. He received his Masters in Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

VICE PRESIDENT OF CONSULTING AND APPLIED RESEARCH
IBM WATSON HEALTH

Dr. Ron Goetzel is the Vice President of Consulting and Applied Research at IBM Health, as well as a senior scientist at Johns Hopkins. He has worked as a Research Professor at Emory University and served as Vice President of Data Analysis and Evaluation Services at Johnson & Johnson. He has co-authored several publications, including many on workplace health promotion. He received PhD in Applied Social Psychology from New York University.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POPULATION & PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCES; SENIOR STATISTICIAN
LEICESTER CLINICAL TRIALS UNIT, UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

Dr. Laura Gray is the Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at the University of Leicester. She joined the University of Leicester in 2008 after being awarded her PhD from the University of Nottingham. She has an interest in diabetes prevention and management and has been the senior statistician on many studies in these areas. In 2015, she graduated from the UK Innovators in Diabetes program.

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
DEPARTMENT OF POPULATION HEALTH, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL

Tracee Hall, MPH, a Houston, Texas native, serves as the Director of Community Partnerships in the Department of Population Health and previously served as the Director of Public Health and Community Engagement in the Health Disparities Division at the Dell Medical School. Ms. Hall completed her undergraduate studies in Biology at Hampton University and received her Master of Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine with a dual concentration in Maternal and Child Health and Health Communication/Education.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FINLAND’S ASH

Mervi Hara is the Executive Director of Finland’s Action on Smoking and Health program, directing the strategic planning of various national projects on tobacco policy. She began her career in public health in 1982 at the Cancer Society of Finland and in 1989 at the University of Helinski, Department of Public Health. She received her MA in communication from the University of Helsinski.

PROFESSOR OF DIABETES MEDICINE
NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY, UK

Prof. Philip Home is a Professor of Diabetes Medicine at Newcastle University and practiced in diabetes care and disorders of lipid metabolism at the Newcastle Diabetes Centre and at the Newcastle Hospitals until end of 2011. He was Vice-chair of the NICE Appraisal Committee, the UK drug reimbursement advisory committee and Consultant Physician in Newcastle (both to 2011), and has been Clinical Lead to UK and International Diabetes Federation guidelines. In the UK Philip Home has been Chairman of the Joint Royal College of Physicians/Specialist Societies’ Endocrinology and Diabetes Committee, and was Senior Scientific Advisor to the UK Type 2 Diabetes guidelines Initiative, having been Senior Clinical Advisor to the NICE Type 1 Diabetes Guidelines Development Group.

PROFESSOR OF HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, FACULTY OF SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF ADVENT INDONESIA

Dr. Albert M. Hutapea is a Professor of Human Physiology at Universitas Advent Indonesia and is a certified human physiologist and exercise physiologist. He received his PhD in Human Physiology from Mahidol University in Thailand. He also earned his MPH and BSc in biology from the Adventist University of the Philippines.

DIRECTOR
EDC CENTER FOR DIABETES EDUCATION

Dr. Mahmoud Ibrahim is the Director of the Education, Dedication, Care (EDC) Center for Diabetes. He also works as a Consultant Endocrinologist, as an Editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Middle East Edition, and is a member of the Michigan Center for Diabetes Translational Research. Dr. Ibrahim studied at the Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.

MEDICAL STUDENT
WARREN ALPERT MEDICAL SCHOOL OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Varun Iyengar is an MD candidate at the Brown University Alpert Medical School. He worked as a Senior Associate at Close Concerns from 2014-2016. He also worked as a Research Assistant at his alma mater, Amherst College. He studied at Oregon Episcopal School and Amherst College, where he received his B.S. in neuroscience.

CHIEF RESIDENT
HARVARD COMBINED ORTHOPEDIC RESIDENCY PROGRAM, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Dr. Jenny Jin is an orthopedic surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. She completed her residency in the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program, was Chief Resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed her fellowship training in arthroplasty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She worked at Close Concerns from 2006-2008 after graduating Harvard College summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in Chemistry. During her medical school training at UC San Francisco she studied the use of nano-aligned tubular conduits for the use of nerve repair in a rat model in Dr. Hubert Kim’s lab.

DEAN
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. S. Claiborne “Clay” Johnston, MD, PhD, has served as the inaugural Dean of The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School since 2014. He also serves as the Vice President of Medical Affairs and is the Frank and Charmaine Denius Distinguished Dean’s Chair in Medical Leadership at Dell Medical School. Dr. Johnston previously served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California San Francisco. He is a neurologist, specializing in stroke care and research. He received his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of California Berkeley, MD from Harvard Medical School and BSc in Physics from Amherst College.

ATTENDING PHYSICIAN
EMERGENCY MEDICINE, JOHNS HOPKINS

Dr. Erin Kane is currently an emergency physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Howard County General Hospital and the assistant medical director of John Hopkins Capacity Optimization at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She studied at Harvard, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in History and Science, and eventually her medical degree. She has co-authored several publications, notably an article on a pilot program that taught medical students about obesity among other noteworthy pieces. Prior to her residency at John Hopkins Hospital, she served as the senior associate at McKinsey and Company where she helped clients from hospitals, health care, and payor in public and private sectors. At Close Concerns, Erin Kane helped transform the organization by being one of the founders of diaTribe in 2006.

RN
EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Anita Khimani works as a Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) at Emory University Hospital in Georgia. She graduated second in her class at Aga Khan University, then received her Masters at Georgia State University (GSU) as she worked as a family nurse practitioner. She received the National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses Scholarship in 2014.

PHYSICIAN
NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL

Dr. Dhruv Khullar, MD, MPP, is a physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and researcher at the Weill Cornell Department of Healthcare Policy and Research. He is a contributor at the New York Times, where he writes about the intersection of medicine, health policy, and economics. He previously worked in the ABC News Medical Unit and at the White House Office of Management and Budget, focusing on Affordable Care Act implementation. He completed his training in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He earned his MD from the Yale School of Medicine and his Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a fellow at the Center for Public Leadership.

PROFESSOR OF PRIMARY CARE DIABETES & VASCULAR MEDICINE, GENERAL PRACTITIONER
UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

Prof. Kamlesh Khunti is the Head of Department and Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester. He leads a research group that is currently working on the early identification of, and interventions with, people who have diabetes or are at increased risk of developing diabetes. His work has influenced national and international guidelines on the screening and management of people with diabetes. He is Director of NIHR CLAHRC East Midlands and Co-Director of a Clinical Trial Unit. He is a NIHR Senior Investigator and principal investigator on several major national and international studies and received the NIHR Senior Investigator Award in 2014. Professor Khunti has recently been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Professor Khunti is currently an advisor to the Department of Health, a Clinical Advisor for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and member of the Primary Care Study Group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). He is past Chair of the Department of Health–RCGP Committee on Classification of Diabetes and past Chair of the NICE Guidelines on Prevention of Diabetes. In addition, he is co-Director of the Diabetes MSc at Leicester University and the BMJ Diabetes Diploma.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
DIVISION OF ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES, AND METABOLISM, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO

Dr. Sarah Kim, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco’s Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. Dr. Kim practices at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where she treats people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. She completed an Advanced Diabetes Fellowship at UC San Francisco after completing training in internal medicine, pediatric, and a specialization in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at University of California Los Angeles. She received her MD from Tufts University School of Medicine.

MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF THE MUSCULOSKELETAL INSTITUTE; ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SURGERY & PERIOPERATIVE CARE AND RESIDENCY PROGRAM DIRECTOR
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. Karl Koenig, MD, MS, is the Medical Director of the Musculoskeletal Institute and Assistant Professor of Surgery & Perioperative Care at The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. He also serves as the Residency Program Director and leads the initiative to improve access to musculoskeletal care for Austin’s underserved population. Dr. Koenig completed his residency training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Orthopaedic Surgery, where he also graduated from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, focusing on patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness research. He received his MD from Baylor College of Medicine and his undergraduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MD/MPH CANDIDATE
ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI

Adam Kraus is an MD/MPH candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he is a Dean’s Scholar in Global Health. His academic interests include the intersection of medicine, global health, and social justice, especially as it relates to migratory populations. He has spent time in Peru, New Zealand, Thailand, Haiti and most currently in the Dominican Republic addressing health disparities. Currently, he is working on a project to better understand the unique barriers to perinatal healthcare faced by Haitian women and their newborn babies living in the Dominican Republic. He is also very involved in the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership—Sinai’s student-run free clinic offering care to the uninsured populations in East Harlem, New York City. He worked for Close Concerns in Summer 2013 as the Dartmouth Fellow, after which he graduated from Dartmouth College in Spring 2014 with a degree in Anthropology modified with Global Health.

CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONER
HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM, DIVISION OF ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES, BONE AND MINERAL DISEASE

Davida F. Kruger has worked over 30 years as certified nurse practitioner in diabetes research and clinical practice at Henry Ford Health System/Detroit, Michigan. Ms. Kruger has served as past Chair of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Research Foundation, and past President of Healthcare and Education of the ADA. She is presently the Editor-In-Chief of Clinical Diabetes was previously editor of Diabetes Spectrum. She is a member of the diaTribe Advisory Board. A principal investigator on numerous diabetes care research projects, she is widely published including authoring the book The Diabetes Travel Guide and has been honored by numerous awards including The ADA Wendell May’s Award.

CONSULTANT PHYSICIAN
GLAN CLWYD HOSPITAL NHS

Dr. Mick Kumwenda is the Director of Renal Services at Glan Clwyd Hospital NHS and a Consultant Nephrologist on the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. He holds multiple degrees including an MB, ChB, FRCPUK, and MSc from the University of Liverpool. He serves as the regional adviser for North Wales to the Royal College of Physicians and is President of the Kidney Patient Association for North Wales.

CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
FIGURE 1

Dr. Joshua Landy, MD, is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Figure 1, a free-access, mobile health startup that serves as a repository of medical images and network for the global medical community. He is a critical care specialist, completing his critical care medicine residency at the University of Toronto. He also trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Alberta and earned his MD from the University of Western Ontario.

CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
JOAN AND SANFORD I. WEILL DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE DIVISION OF ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM AT THE WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE

Dr. Adam Z. Law is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He is the Chair of Ithaca’s Cayuga Medical Center’s Graduate Medical Education committee and has served as Chair of the Department of Medicine. He received his M.D., M.Sc. and B.Sc. from the University of London.

CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER
SCHOLARRX

Dr. Tao Le, MD, MHS, is the Chief Education Officer at ScholarRx and Senior Editor of First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, where he works to develop evidence-based, adaptive learning solutions designed to address the most pressing curricular issues facing medical schools across the globe. He is the Chief of the Allergy and Immunology Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He earned his MD from University of California San Francisco and completed his residency training in internal medicine at Yale University and his allergy and immunology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH POLICY, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Dr. Douglas Levy, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Professor in Health Care Policy at the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. His primary area of research is focused on studying how public health, healthcare finances, and health services policies can improve primary and higher order prevention to improve population health.

CEO
QUIZZIFY

Al Lewis, the co-founder and CEO of Quizzify, wears multiple hats. He’s an author whose critically-acclaimed bestseller on outcomes measurement, Why Nobody Believes the Numbers, was named 2012 healthcare book of the year in Forbes. Cracking Health Costs: How to Cut Your Company’s Health Costs and Provide Employees Better Care, released in 2013, was also a trade bestseller. His 2014 book Surviving Workplace Wellness, co-authored with Vik Khanna, has also received accolades. He is also one of the population health field’s most-acclaimed speakers, as well as a prolific author and interviewee on outcomes economics, having been featured in almost every major lay and healthcare publication. Before entering the population health field, Al was a partner at Bain & Company. He holds two degrees from Harvard, where he also taught economics, and his economic policy book was made into a show on the Washington, DC NPR affiliate.

PROFESSOR OF SURGERY
DIVISION OF GENERAL AND GI SURGERY, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Edward Lin has served as the Surgical Director of the Emory Bariatric Center since 2006. He is the Chief of the Division of General and GI Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Emory University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Lin also serves as the Director of the Emory Clinic Gastroesophageal Treatment Center and Esophageal Physiology Lab and as the Associate Program Director of the Emory Endosurgery Fellowship. He is currently a Professor of Surgery in the Division of General and GI Surgery at the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Surgery. In 2009, he received the Junior Surgery Residents Faculty Teaching Award, Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine. He received is Doctor of Osteopathy degree from the Des Moines University-College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery and MBA from Emory University.

MD CANDIDATE
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL

Marissa Lynn is currently an MD candidate at Harvard Medical school and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 2013. While at Dartmouth she majored in Biology and minored in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. She completed biomedical research focused on developing novel therapeutics for pancreatic cancer for which she was recognized with a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. After college she spent two years in South Korea on a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Fellowship, where she taught English in an all-boys middle school and served at the Fulbright Korea ETA Program Coordinator. Now in medical school she plans to pursue residency training in ophthalmology.

PRINCIPAL RESEARCH FELLOW
RURAL CLINICAL SCHOOL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND KIMBERLEY ABORIGINAL MEDICAL SERVICES

Dr. Julia Marley, a principal research fellow at the University of Western Australia’s Rural Clinical School, concentrates on outcomes of diabetic patients at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service Council (KAMSC) clinics. She is also chairs the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Planning Forum Research Subcommittee. She received her PhD in 2001 and Masters of Public Health in 2016.

PRESIDENT AND CEO
THE ACCREDITATION COUNCIL FOR CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION (ACCME)

Dr. Graham T. McMahon, MD, MMSc, is the President and CEO of The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Dr. McMahon serves as Associate Dean for Continuing Education and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, teaching at both Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He also serves as Editor for Medical Education at the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. McMahon is board certified in internal medicine; and endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism. He earned his doctoral degree in medical education from the National University of Ireland, he MD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Master of Medical Science in Clinical Research from Harvard Medical School.

FOUNDER AND PATIENT ADVOCATE
PATIENT IS PARTNER

Dr. J. Greg Merritt, PhD, is the founder of Patient is Partner, where he works as an educator and patient advocate. He previously worked as Director of the Coleman-Munger Fellows Program and Senior Associate Director of University Housing at the University of Michigan. He received his PhD in Higher Adult and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University and bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bradley University.

DIRECTOR
UA CENTER FOR BORDER HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA HEALTH SCIENCES

Dr. David G. Marrero is a distinguished expert in diabetes education and research. His work focuses on medication adherence, community health programs, early diabetes intervention and translational medicine. His research interests also include strategies for promoting diabetes prevention, improving diabetes care practices used by primary care providers and the use of technology to facilitate care and education.

Twice awarded the Allene Von Son Award for Diabetes Patient Education Tools by the American Association of Diabetes Educators, Dr. Marrero has been nominated to Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care in 2000, served as associate editor for Diabetes Care (1997-2002) and is the associate editor for Diabetes Forecast. He was selected for an Alumni of the Year award from the University of California, Irvine in 2006 and Outstanding Educator in Diabetes in 2008 by the American Diabetes Association. In 2016, he served as the president for health care and education of the American Diabetes Association. As the Executive Director of the UAHS Center for Elimination of Border Health Disparities (CEBHD), Dr. Marrero provides leadership to build strong collaborations with other UAHS centers, such as the Center for Population Science and Discovery; the Center for Elimination of Disparities in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism; the Center for Applied Genetics and Genomic Medicine; and the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics. Dr. Marrero received a bachelor’s degree (1974), master’s degree (1978) and doctorate (1982) in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.

CHIEF RESIDENT
EMERGENCY MEDICINE, ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI

Dr. Brendan Milliner joined Close Concerns in 2008 after graduating from Amherst College with a degree in neuroscience. After a year with the team, he headed to the east coast for med school, and is currently finishing his last year of Emergency Medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He has a strong interest in global health and the use of portable ultrasound in areas without access to other advanced imaging. When not at work he can be found rock climbing, biking, and perfecting his dumpling recipe.

CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
MICHIGAN PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE

Michelle Napier-Dunnings is both Executive Director of Michigan Food & Farming Systems (MIFFS) and Chief Communications Officer of Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI).  Michelle has worked with governmental agencies, educational institutions, businesses, and non-profit collaboratives tackling challenges in food systems, healthcare, and organizational development. Michelle earned her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BA in Psychology/Biology from Earlham College.

STAFF SCIENTIST
FOGARTY INTERNATIONAL CENTER, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Dr. Martha Nelson served as a medical writer and researcher at Close Concerns from 2003 to 2005 and continues to engage with the company. She graduated with a Biology degree, magna cum laude, from Amherst College in 2004. She studied infectious disease dynamics during her doctoral study, completing her PhD at the Pennsylvania State University in 2008 with a thesis titled ‘The genomic evolution of influenza A virus.’ Martha is now a Staff Scientist at the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD. Martha’s father, paternal grandfather, great-grandmother, and great-uncle all have had type 2 diabetes, and Martha retains a keen interest in diabetes therapeutics, prevention, and basic research.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
18 REASONS

Sarah Nelson has worked on food-related projects in the Bay Area since 2008. She launched Cooking Matters in the Bay Area in 2010. In her previous work with Bay Area farmers’ markets, she created the Bay Area’s first Market Match program, which gives farmers’ market customers who use food stamps extra funds to spend at the market, and a Veggie Rx program that helps diabetes patients. In 2011, she founded the nonprofit Three Squares, which merged with 18 Reasons in 2013.

DIRECTOR OF CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, SF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Dr. Rita Nguyen is the Director of Chronic Disease Prevention for the City and County of San Francisco Department of Public Health. She has been working for much of her life to unite the humanitarian promise of medicine with the pursuit of social justice. As an undergraduate at Stanford, she helped start a student-run free clinic near her hometown on the east side of San Jose. During her residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she led physician advocates in the greater Boston area to champion reforms that would create a better healthcare system for all.

MD CANDIDATE
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Blake Niccum is an MD candidate and The University of Virginia School of Medicine. His research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship in medical education. Niccum was recognized as a University of Virginia Medical School’s C. Richard Bowman Scholar, an award dedicated to medical students who, at the end of their third year of medical school, has excelled in the clinical portion of the medical curriculum and exemplifies integrity, enthusiasm, and compassion.

DIRECTOR
RIVERSIDE DIABETES CENTER

Lucia Novak, the director of Riverside Diabetes Center in Riverdale, Maryland, received her Bachelor’s degree in the science of nursing at Duquesne University and earned her Master’s at the Catholic University of America. In April 2015, she was awarded the title of Master Clinician at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH PROMOTION

Dr. Michael P. O’Donnell, PhD, MPA, MPH, is the founder, president and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Health Promotion and is the CEO of the Art and Science of Health Promotion Institute. He has managed more than 50 workplace health promotion programs for medium, large, and very large employers over the span of three decades. He received the Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award from the James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation in 2011. Dr. O’Donnell earned a PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, an MBA in General Management and an MPH in Hospital Administration from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his undergraduate work in Psychobiology at Oberlin College.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
DIVISION OF ENDOCRINOLOGY, METABOLISM AND LIPIDS, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Darin Olson is a physician at Emory University and Atlanta VAMC. He earned his BSC in electrical engineering at Duke, then proceeded to receive his PhD in Biomedical engineering at Boston University. He continued on to Boston University School of Medicine, where he acquired his MD. He is a board member of Team Type1.

CERTIFIED DIABETES EDUCATOR
ESSENTIA HEALTH

Ani Othman is a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator in at Essentia Health’s Lakewalk Clinic in Duluth, Minnesota.

PRESIDENT EMERITUS
INTEGRATED BENEFITS INSTITUTE

Dr. Thomas Parry is President Emeritus of the Integrated Benefits Institute. Before co-founding IBI, he served 11 years as Research Director at the California Workers’ Compensation Institute. His research at CWCI encompassed a wide variety of topics in workers’ compensation, including medical treatment patterns, vocational rehabilitation costs and effectiveness, legal costs and trends, medical utilization, mental stress claims, and physical therapy patterns of care. Parry received his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY & RESEARCH
IHEED

Dr. Kunal Patel, PhD, MD, is the Medical Director of Advocacy & Research at iHeed, which is dedicated to developing, fostering and supporting innovation in health education globally through providing online education and training programs. Dr. Patel is a Travel and Tropical Medicine physician and academic and global health specialist. He received his PhD in Clinical Medicine and medical degree from Trinity College and his MRCS in Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons.

PRESIDENT
BEHAVIORAL DIABETES INSTITUTE

Dr. William H. Polonsky is the president of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from Yale University and has served as Chairman of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, Senior Psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is an active researcher in the field of behavioral diabetes, a licensed clinical psychologist and certified diabetes educator. Dr. Polonsky has served on the editorial boards of numerous lay and professional journals in diabetes, including Diabetes Care, Clinical Diabetes, Diabetes Forecast, Diabetes Self-Management and Diabetes Health. He is a member of the diaTribe advisory board.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
USC CHAN DIVISION OF OCCUPATIONAL SCIENCE AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Dr. Beth Pyatak, PhD, MS, MA, is an assistant professor at her alma mater, USC. She has primary research interests in the intersection of chronic care management, occupational engagement and health and well-being among individuals with chronic illness and/or disability. In 2011 she was awarded a Mentored Career Development Award through the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) to develop a lifestyle intervention aimed at improving health and quality of life outcomes among young adults with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Her educational history includes a BA in Psychology in 2002 from USC, a MA in Occupational Therapy at that same school in 2004, and a PhD in Occupational Science in 2010. She returned to the University of Southern California in 2015 for her Master of Science (MS) in Clinical, Biomedical and Translational Investigations.

DIRECTOR
USC OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY FACULTY PRACTICE

Dr. Chantelle Rice, OTD, is the Director of the USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice and is an Associate Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy at University of Southern California’s Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. As a Certified Diabetes Educator, she works predominantly with Lifestyle Redesign® Weight Management and Diabetes Management clients while also managing the practice’s administrative operations. Dr. Rice received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in occupational therapy from USC in 2008, and earned her Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree from USC in 2009.

CO-FOUNDER
BRIGHTER BITES

Dr. Shreela Sharma is the co-founder of Brighter Bites. She received a BSc in physical therapy at the University of Mumbai, an MA in physical therapy at the University of Iowa, an RD in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Houston, and A PhD in epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, which is where she now works as an Associate Professor.

BOARD MEMBER
JDRF

Lorraine Stiehl has been a diabetes partner and patient advocate for over 30 years. She is the co-author of What To Do When Your Partner Has Type 1 Diabetes: A Survival Guide. Lorraine has been active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) since 1987. As a local, regional and national staff member for 14 years, she launched 17 chapters in 13 states and raised millions of dollars to support diabetes research. As a volunteer leader, she served as national chair for grassroots advocacy and chaired the national advocacy committee on the international board of directors. Lorraine helped to create the University of California, San Francisco Diabetes Center, partnering with its renowned diabetes researchers and clinicians for 13 years. Through her family’s consulting firm, StiehlWorks, Lorraine has provided marketing, communications, and development leadership to The diaTribe Foundation, Diabetes Hands Foundation, Diabetes Research Connection, Diabetes Empowerment Foundation, Students With Diabetes, Lymphoma Research Foundation, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

PROGRAM MANAGER
PEERS FOR PROGRESS

Patrick Yao Tang, MPH, is the Program Manager at Peers for Progress, a program of the Department of Health Behavior in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Department of Family Medicine in the UNC School of Medicine. He manages Peers for Progress projects and collaborations, providing technical assistance to collaborators in the form of resource development, program design and evaluation, and expert training. He earned his Master in Public Health, with a focus on Health Behavior, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University.

MANAGED CARE MEDICAL LIAISON
DEXCOM

Roy Thomas is the present Managed Care Medical Liaison at Dexcom. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, earning a degree in pharmacy. He has worked as a Senior Clinical Manager of Payer Relations at CVS Health, and a clinical pharmacist at United Healthcare.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Dr. Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her clinical and research interests are in the prevention and treatment of obesity through lifestyle modification. She is currently researching the effects of population-based interventions that utilize behavioral economics strategies to promote healthy food choices at worksites and in low-income communities. She received her MD from UMASS Medical School and completed her residency at University of Chicago Hospitals, and a Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF POPULATION HEALTH AND PROFESSOR OF POPULATION HEALTH
DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Dr. William Tierney, PhD, MD is the inaugural Chair of the Department of Population Health, and a professor of Population Health, at the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. He practiced general internal medicine at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis where he was Chief of Internal Medicine from 2009 to 2014. He has a master’s degree from Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University in administration and policy analysis.

MD/PHD CANDIDATE
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Dr. Melissa Tjota is an MD/PhD candidate at the University of Chicago. She recently finished her PhD coursework in immunology and will be returning to medical school for her last two years. Melissa Tjota worked at Close Concerns from 2008-2010 as a full-time associate after graduating from Harvard College summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in Biochemical Sciences and a secondary field in Spanish.

PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Guillermo E. Umpierrez first joined the Emory University School of Medicine faculty from 1992-1997. He returned in 2003 to focus on diabetes and metabolic disorders. Dr. Umpierrez’s research interests include mechanisms for ß-cell dysfunction in minority populations with ketosis-prone type 2 diabetes, the effects of free fatty acids on insulin secretion and hypertension in obese patients, and the inpatient management of insulin in critical and noncritical patients. In 2009, Dr. Umpierrez received  the “Outstanding Service Award for the Promotion of Endocrine Health of an Underserved Population” from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE).

MEDICAL DIRECTOR
MEDTRONIC DIABETES

Col. Dr. Robert Vigersky, former president of the Endocrine Society and Director Emeritus of the Diabetes Institute at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, is medical director for Medtronic Diabetes. He has focused on the use of technology and decision-support systems to improve outcomes for patients with diabetes and has been interested in developing a composite metric for at least 10 years.

MANAGING DIRECTOR
WARBROS. LLC

Michael Warburg is the co-founder and Managing Director of Warbros Venture Partners, a private investment firm focused on expansion stage companies with unique consumer product or business service offerings. Prior to co-founding Warbros, Michael spent the majority of his career in commercial banking. He went through the Commercial Bank Management Training Program at J.P Morgan & Co. in New York and later worked for Fleet Bank in Providence, RI and Fleet/Shawmut in Hartford, CT. The last seven years of this period were spent managing and performing “workouts” involving loan transactions of $1-20 million in a variety of industries. Through this process he became intimately familiar with the many financing options available to companies and the methods they can use to improve performance and attract equity. Following this commercial banking experience he co-founded a financial consulting business that served to raise debt and equity for small to mid-sized companies. Mike received his BS from Brown University and MA in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island.

PROFESSOR AND DEAN EMERITUS
COLUMBIA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING, AND PRESERVATION

Mark Wigley has written extensively on the theory and practice of architecture and is the author of Constant’s New Babylon: The Hyper-Architecture of Desire (1998); White Walls, Designer Dresses: The Fashioning of Modern Architecture(1995); and The Architecture of Deconstruction: Derrida’s Haunt (1993). He co-edited The Activist Drawing: Retracing Situationalist Architectures from Constant’s New Babylon to Beyond (2001). Wigley has served as curator for widely attended exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Drawing Center, New York; Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal; and Witte de With Museum, Rotterdam. He received both his Bachelor of Architecture (1979) and his Ph.D. (1987) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY FELLOW
THE JOHNS HOPKINS SIDNEY KIMMEL COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER

Dr. Mark Yarchoan is a Hematology-Oncology Fellow at The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. He completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, after receiving his MD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is interested in translational research in gastrointestinal oncology, with a focus in novel immunotherapies. Mark worked for Close Concerns as a full time associate from 2007-2009, where he was an editor of Diabetes Close Up and a frequent contributor to Closer Look and diaTribe. Mark received a BA from Amherst College.

CLINICAL DIETITIAN AND CERTIFIED DIABETES EDUCATOR

Susan Yake is a clinical dietician and a certified diabetes educator and the current industry chair at Diabetes Care and Education Dietetic Practice Group. She studied food and nutrition at Brigham Young University – Idaho, receiving her BSc in dietetics. Her various awards include: Navy Surgeon General Blue Health Promotion and Wellness Award (2009-2014), Gold Star Award (1998-2008), Heroes of TRICARE – From the Pentagon Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense (2005), Seattle Federal Executive Board’s Public Service Award (2002), and Civilian of the Quarter (2011 & 1996).

PROFESSOR OF DIABETES
MONASH UNIVERSITY

Prof. Paul Zimmet is Professor of Diabetes at Monash University and formerly Director Emeritus, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. In 1984, he founded the International Diabetes Institute which merged with the Baker Institute in 2008. He is on the diaTribe advisory board. He is Honorary President of the International Diabetes Federation and has an extensive international record in diabetes and obesity research, particularly in epidemiology and public health. His research predicted and has charted the evolving global type 2 diabetes epidemic.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL AFFAIRS
MERCK

Dr. Yun-Ping Zhou, PhD, is Executive Director, Scientific and Medical Affairs at Merck. He joined Merck Research Laboratories in 2003 as a Research Fellow, and participated or led several diabetes drug discovery programs before becoming the Director for Scientific Affairs in China. He is also an experienced general endocrinologist and has broad interests in basic science and in clinical medicine. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Zhou was a scientist at Metabolex, and a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Yun-Ping completed his residency at the Air Force General Hospital in Beijing in 1985, and served as the attending physician at the Department of Endocrinology in Shanghai Changhai Hospital from 1989 to 1992. He then started his research career at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and obtained a Ph.D. degree in 1996. He is well known to the fields of islet biology and diabetes research, and has contributed to 40 articles in international peer reviewed journals and several patents.