American Diabetes Association® Thanks the 2017 Principal Officers and Welcomes 2018 Officers and New Members to National Board of Directors

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Diabetes Association (ADA) thanks the four Principal Officers who helped the ADA raise awareness of diabetes and improve the lives of those living with and affected by diabetes throughout 2017, and welcomes the 2018 Principal Officers and Board of Directors.

"I am grateful to Drs. Dave DeMarco and Alvin Powers, Ms. Brenda Montgomery and Mr. Umesh Verma for their guidance, expertise and leadership in 2017," said the ADA's Interim Chief Executive Officer Martha Clark. "Together, we have advanced the ADA's mission and touched the lives of millions of people with diabetes, their families and caregivers, diabetes researchers and others in positive and impactful ways. I am also excited to welcome our 2018 Principal Officers, Drs. Karen Talmadge, Jane Reusch, Felicia Hill-Briggs and Mr. Michael Ching, and I look forward to the insight and skills that each of them will lend to the ADA in the coming months."

The Principal Officers of the Board, whose terms of leadership service ended on December 31, 2017, are:

David A. DeMarco, PhD (2017 Chair) 
David A. DeMarco, PhD, is a principal at Ernst & Young LLP (EY) with more than 25 years of experience in strategy, innovation and management consulting. Dr. DeMarco has been volunteering for the ADA since July 2011 and served as Chair of the ADA's Metro New York City Community Leadership Board (CLB) and has served on the Finance Committee. As Chair, Dr. DeMarco helped advance the governance capability of the Board and solidify the ADA's understanding of the business model required to execute the new strategic plan.

Brenda Montgomery, RN, MSHS, CDE (2017 President, Health Care & Education) 
Brenda Montgomery, RN, MSHS, CDE, is a Senior Clinical Science Liaison for Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Montgomery has served as President of the ADA's Seattle-area Community Leadership Board (CLB) and served two terms on the National Board of Directors. As President, Health Care & Education, Ms. Montgomery helped the ADA refine its role in promoting Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) programs through the Diabetes Prevention Program and recognition of diabetes education programs across the country.

Alvin C. Powers, MD (2017 President, Science & Medicine) 
Alvin C. Powers, MD, is the Joe C. Davis Chair in Biologic Science and Professor of Medicine, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He is also the Director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, Chief of the Vanderbilt Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and the Director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center, a NIH-funded center that facilitates the diabetes-related research of more than 120 Vanderbilt scientists. Dr. Powers has served on the Finance Committee and Scientific Sessions Planning Committee, and served as Chair of the Research Policy Committee in addition to his service as a member of the national Board of Directors. As President, Science & Medicine, Dr. Powers brought the voice of diabetes researchers to the ADA's advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and provided valuable guidance on how to increase ADA membership among health care professionals and strengthen their engagement with ADA's research and clinical care efforts. 

Umesh Verma (2017 Secretary/Treasurer) 
Umesh Verma is Chief Executive Officer of BLUE LANCE, Inc., a global provider of cybersecurity governance solutions that help companies save time and money with information security risk assessments, auditing and compliance automation. Mr. Verma has served as Chair of the ADA's Houston Community Leadership Board and on the Finance Committee. As Secretary/Treasurer, Mr. Verma challenged the ADA to address cyber-security risks and to analyze the organization's financials through the lens of bankers and investors.

The 2018 Principal Officers of the Board, whose terms of leadership service began on January 1, 2018, are:

Karen Talmadge, PhD (2018 Chair)
Karen Talmadge, PhD, is an award-winning entrepreneur, executive and scientist in the biomedical industry, currently serving as president of Nabu Strategic Advisors, a Silicon Valley-based consulting business she started in 2011 to advise entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in health care. Dr. Talmadge has volunteered for the ADA since 1994, and currently serves as Vice Chair of the ADA's Research Foundation and as a member of the Mentor Advisory Group for its innovative Pathway to Stop Diabetes^® research grant program. She was instrumental in the creation of Pathway program and was also a founding philanthropic supporter.

Felicia Hill-Briggs, PhD, ABPP (2018 President, Health Care & Education)
Felicia Hill-Briggs, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine; Director, Behavior and Cognition Sub-Core, Healthcare & Population Science at Johns Hopkins – University of Maryland Diabetes Research Center; and Senior Director, Population Health Research and Development at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research. A behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist, Dr. Hill-Briggs has chaired the ADA's Council on Behavioral Medicine and Psychology and the Grant Review Committee, and she currently serves on the Research Policy Committee.

Jane Reusch, MD (2018 President, Medicine & Science)
Jane Reusch, MD, is a Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Bioengineering and Associate Director of the Center for Women's Health Research at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus. She directs the Diabetes Care Team and the PEERS diabetes education program at the Denver VA Medical Center. Currently serving on the ADA's Research Policy, Finance and Strategic Planning Committees, Dr. Reusch is a member of the ADA's Pinnacle Society and was honored with the ADA's Women of Valor Award for Colorado in 2001.

Michael Ching, CPA (2018 Secretary/Treasurer)
Michael Ching, CPA, is an Executive Vice President of First Hawaiian Bank and serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, overseeing all finance, accounting and treasury functions of the bank. First Hawaiian Bank is the largest bank headquartered in Hawaii in terms of assets, loans, deposits and net income. Mr. Ching currently serves as a member of the ADA's Finance Committee as well as the ADA's Honolulu Community Leadership Board.

The 2019 Elect Principal Officers of the Board, whose terms of leadership service are slated to begin on January 1, 2019, are:

David Herrick, MBA (Chair-Elect)
David Herrick, MBA, provides C-level counsel to clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to early-stage innovators as Managing Principal of EthicOne LLC, a brand consultancy that helps organizations around the world put ethics at the heart of their brands and cultures, and as Principal for Hudson Cutler & Co., a marketing communications consulting firm. Mr. Herrick served on the ADA's Greater New York City Community Leadership Board as Chair and has been heavily involved as an organizer and participant in the ADA's Tour de Cure events.

Gretchen Youssef, MS, RD, CDE (President-Elect, Health Care & Education)
Gretchen Youssef, MS, RD, CDE, is Program Director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute and the Diabetes for Life Learning Center at Martin Luther King Library, MedStar DPP and MedStar Hair, Heart and Health Barbershop Diabetes and Blood Pressure Screening and Education Program. Ms. Youssef has volunteered with the ADA since 1992, serving as vice president of the Montgomery, Maryland chapter in 1994, Chair of the Education Recognition Committee from 2008 to 2009, a member of the Professional Practice Committee from 2010 to 2012, and a member of the national Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012.

Louis H. Philipson, MD, PhD, FACP (President-Elect, Medicine & Science)
Louis H. Philipson is Director of the Kovler Diabetes Center and was recently named as the James C. Tyree Professor of Diabetes Research and Care in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago. From 1996 to 1999 and again from 2008 to 2012, Dr. Philipson served on the editorial board of Diabetes, one of the ADA's four scientific journals. He has volunteered with the ADA since 1997, served on the Community Leadership Board for Northern Illinois since 2008, as President of the Community Leadership Board since 2012, and previously as a member of the national Board of Directors from 2009 to 2012.

Brian Bertha, JD, MBA (Secretary/Treasurer-Elect)
Brian Bertha, JD, MBA, is currently a Senior Adviser for the Health Information Technology Lab (HitLab), works as a trainer and consultant with Innovator's DNA (iDNA), and serves as a consultant for several health care and technology companies. His expertise includes more than 20 years in senior management, strategy, marketing and operations with Baxter, McKesson and most recently as Chief Operating Officer for Crescendo Bioscience. Mr. Bertha has previously served on the ADA's Community Leadership Board for the San Francisco area, served on the Finance Committee, and spent three years on the national Board of Directors. He was also integral in planning and identifying support for the ADA's first Walk to Stop Diabetes event in San Francisco.

Additional Board Members for 2018 are:

Tracey Brown, MBA, BChE
Tracey Brown, MBA, BChE, is currently Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Experience Officer for Sam's Club, where she is responsible for connecting to customers through meaningful customer experiences across 650 clubs. As a person living with diabetes, Ms. Brown is passionate about her role with the ADA to increase awareness for diabetes, raise funds for research and education and support others living with and affected by diabetes. Ms. Brown is actively engaged in managing her diabetes through healthy lifestyle choices, improved diet and more exercise, and she understands the ongoing challenges of proper diabetes management.

Janet Brown Friday, RN, MSN, MPH
Janet Brown Friday, RN, MSN, MPH, has been a registered nurse for more than 35 years and is currently the Clinical Trials Manager at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, overseeing the operation of both National Institutes of Health-funded and local clinical trials in the Diabetes Clinical Trials Unit. Ms. Friday has served on the ADA's African American Committee.

Mary de Groot, PhD
Mary de Groot, PhD, is an associate professor of medicine and acting director of the Diabetes Translational Research Center at Indiana University, where she leads 20 faculty members from Indiana University and Purdue University in conducting behavioral research in diabetes. Dr. de Groot has volunteered with the ADA since 2009, including serving as an Associate Editor for Diabetes Care, the ADA's premier, peer-reviewed medical journal, since 2012, and serving on the Editorial Board of Diabetes Forecast, the ADA's magazine for people living with diabetes.

Robert H. Eckel, MD
Robert H. Eckel, MD, is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and currently the Charles A. Boettcher II Endowed Chair in Atherosclerosis; Professor of Medicine with appointments in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, and the Division of Cardiology; and Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus; and Director of the Lipid Clinic at the University of Colorado Hospital. Dr. Eckel served on the ADA's Mentor Advisory Group.

Sherita Hill Golden, MD, MHS
Sherita Hill Golden, MD, MHS, is the Hugh P. McCormick Family Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Dr. Golden was a member of the ADA Scientific Sessions Planning Committee and Chair of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Interest Group from 2011 to 2013, and has also been active with the Behavioral Medicine and Psychology Interest Group. From 2011 to 2015, she served as Associate Editor for the ADA's peer-reviewed, scientific journal, Diabetes Care, where she developed a process for editorial screening of meta analyses and systematic reviews in addition to contributing editorials. She was recently appointed to the ADA's Research Policy Committee.

C. Ronald Kahn, MD
C. Ronald Kahn, MD, is the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief Academic Officer, Senior Investigator and Head of the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Mass. He has been a member of several ADA committees, including the Research Policy and Finance Committees. Dr. Kahn also served as the Associate Review Editor of Diabetes Care from 1990-1992.

Steve Lucas
Steve Lucas is Chief Executive Officer at Marketo, Inc., a leader in marketing automation located in Denver. Prior to Marketo, Lucas served as President of SAP's Platform Solutions, leading the organization's multibillion-dollar growth and expansion into a range of technology markets. Mr. Lucas has held leadership positions at other large technology companies, including Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Crystal Decisions and Business Objects. He also served as the executive champion for SAP's involvement as a Tour de Cure National Team. Lucas also served as an advisor for the development of the ADA's 2016 Technology Summit and was a presenter at the event.

Cynthia Muñoz, PhD, MPH
Cynthia E. Muñoz, PhD, MPH, is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (the University of Southern California) in Los Angeles, where she provides clinical care to children, youth and families with diabetes through the Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (CEDM) Embedded Psychology Program and the CHLA Behavioral Health Center. Dr. Muñoz has served as the president of the ADA's Community Leadership Board in Los Angeles since 2016, and previously chaired the local Advocacy Committee from 2014 to 2016 and the local Safe at School Subcommittee from 2014 to 2015. She is actively involved in the ADA's new Mental Health Provider Education Program, launched in 2017 with the American Psychological Association, to increase the number of mental health professionals who are trained and knowledgeable about the unique challenges faced by people with diabetes.

Christopher Ralston, JD
Christopher K. Ralston, JD, is a partner and deputy practice coordinator in the New Orleans litigation practice at Phelps Dunbar LLP. Mr. Ralston handles a range of commercial litigation and focuses on the areas of antitrust law, business torts, trade secret litigation and contract disputes, tax litigation, securities litigation and arbitration, direct selling and intellectual property litigation. After recognizing the devastating impact of diabetes in New Orleans, Mr. Ralston joined the ADA's New Orleans Community Leadership Board in 2009, and he has served as Chair of that Board since 2014.

About the American Diabetes Association
Nearly half of American adults have diabetes or prediabetes; more than 30 million adults and children have diabetes; and every 21 seconds, another individual is diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S. Founded in 1940, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization whose mission is to prevent and cure diabetes, and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. The ADA drives discovery by funding research to treat, manage and prevent all types of diabetes, as well as to search for cures; raises voice to the urgency of the diabetes epidemic; and works to safeguard policies and programs that protect people with diabetes. In addition, the ADA supports people living with diabetes, those at risk of developing diabetes, and the health care professionals who serve them through information and programs that can improve health outcomes and quality of life. For more information, please call the ADA at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit diabetes.org. Information from both of these sources is available in English and Spanish. Find us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contacts:  Michelle Kirkwood, 703-299-2053
[email protected]

Courtney Cochran, 703-253-4369
[email protected]

SOURCE American Diabetes Association

Related Links

http://www.diabetes.org