American Diabetes Association® Welcomes 2019 Principal Officers and New Members to National Board of Directors

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is honored to welcome the 2019 Principal Officers and Board of Directors. The 18-member board is comprised of forward-thinking medical, scientific, education and executive professionals, who will strategically lead and focus efforts to ensure the ADA continues to be synonymous with excellence.

"The newest members of ADA's National Board of Directors are respected and trusted leaders within their professions, and we are thankful they are willing to share their time and energy to help us bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic," said Tracey D. Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the ADA. "We are truly grateful to our outgoing Principal Officers, Karen Talmadge, Felicia Hill-Briggs, Jane Reusch and Michael Ching, for their exemplary leadership, and know that they will remain connected for life."

The Principal Officers of the Board of Directors who started their terms of service on January 1, 2019 are:

    --  David Herrick, MBA, ChairDavid Herrick is managing principal of
        EthicOne, a New York City-based brand consultancy that helps Fortune
        1000 companies put ethics and values at the heart of their brands.
        Herrick has served on the National Board of the American Diabetes
        Association for three years, having served as chair of the Board
        Development Committee, chair of the Marketing & Communications Task
        Force, member of the Finance Committee and member of the Strategic
        Planning Task Force. He previously served as chair of the ADA's Greater
        New York City Community Leadership Board and has been heavily involved
        as an organizer and participant in the ADA's Tour de Cure events.

    --  Gretchen Youssef, MS, RD, CDE, President, Health Care &
        EducationGretchen Youssef is program director of the MedStar Diabetes
        Institute, MedStar Health. 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 and a member of the
        national Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012.

    --  Louis H. Philipson, MD, PhD, FACP, President, Medicine & ScienceLouis H.
        Philipson is director of the Kovler Diabetes Center and was 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/TreasurerBrian Bertha is a senior
        adviser for the Health Information Technology Lab (HitLab) and serves as
        a consultant for several health care and technology companies. Prior to
        that, he worked in senior management positions at Baxter Healthcare and
        McKesson. He previously served on the ADA's Community Leadership Board
        for the San Francisco area, served nationally on the Finance Committee
        and the board of directors.

The Elect Officers for 2019 are:

    --  Umesh Verma, Chair of the Board-ElectUmesh Verma is chief executive
        officer of BLUE LANCE, Inc., a leading developer of cybersecurity
        governance, assurance, audit and compliance automation software. He is
        the founder of Cyber Houston and the Houston Cyber Summit. A national
        leader in emerging technologies, he serves on the Boards of The Center
        for Houston's Future, University of Houston College of Technology and
        the Greater Houston HealthConnect. Verma is passionate about helping
        improve the lives of people with diabetes and serves on the executive
        committee of the Houston Diabetes Resource Center. Verma has served the
        American Diabetes Association as chair of the Houston Community
        Leadership Board, chair of the Finance Committee, and as the 2017
        secretary/treasurer for the national Board of Directors.

    --  Mary de Groot, PhD, President-Elect, Health Care & EducationMary de
        Groot, Ph.D., is an associate professor of medicine and acting director
        of the Diabetes Translational Research Center at Indiana University. She
        received her Master of Education degree from the Harvard University
        Graduate School of Education in 1989 and her doctorate in Clinical
        Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 1999. Dr. de Groot is
        a clinical health psychologist whose research focuses on examining the
        mechanisms that link diabetes and depression as well as the development
        of accessible interventions to treat depression among adults and
        socioeconomically and culturally diverse populations with diabetes.
        Since 2017, Dr. de Groot is a member of the American Diabetes
        Association Board of Directors. In addition, Dr. de Groot has
        contributed more than 100 articles and presentations on the psychosocial
        aspects of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

    --  Robert H. Eckel, MD, President-Elect, Medicine & ScienceRobert Eckel 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, Division of Cardiology and
        professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Anschutz
        Medical Campus, and director of the Lipid Clinic at the University of
        Colorado Hospital. He also was a member of the Scientific Advisory
        Council of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney
        Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. In addition, he served as
        president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and
        then president of the American Heart Association.

    --  Martha Parry Clark, MBA, Secretary/Treasurer-ElectMartha Parry Clark is
        a retired chief executive officer with global executive experience that
        spans the asset management, health non-profit, banking and strategy
        consulting industries. For the American Diabetes Association, Clark most
        recently served as the interim CEO, as chair of the Finance Committee,
        and as chair of the Community Leadership Board for the San Francisco Bay
        Area. She also serves on the board of Project Redwood, a non-profit that
        provides grants and consulting services to early-stage social
        entrepreneurs focusing on extreme poverty.

New At-Large Board Members are:

    --  Glen TullmanGlen Tullman is executive chairman and founder of Livongo
        and is passionately committed to finding a cure for diabetes and other
        chronic conditions and keeping people healthy until we do. A visionary
        leader and entrepreneur, he previously ran two public companies that
        changed the way healthcare is delivered. Tullman is also a co-founder
        and partner in 7wireVentures, an early stage investment firm focused on
        healthcare. He is the author of On Our Terms: Empowering the New Health
        Consumer, which proposes new solutions to address the chronic-condition
        epidemic facing our country.

    --  Robert M. Cuddihy, MDRobert M. Cuddihy is the vice president, US Medical
        Affairs, at AMGEN. He has close to two decades of practice experience as
        a clinical diabetologist at the Mayo Clinic, Harvard & MGH,
        International Diabetes Center (IDC), and the University of Minnesota. He
        was actively engaged in diabetes research as an investigator on numerous
        diabetes-related clinic trials including the DCCT-EDIC and ACCORD
        trials. A frequent speaker on diabetes-related topics at numerous
        national and global medical congresses and educator of physicians
        throughout the world on the treatment of diabetes through the World
        Health Organization, he has dedicated his life to educating and
        advocating for individuals living with diabetes. Dr. Cuddihy has
        participated in many American Diabetes Association Expo's in Minneapolis
        and served as chair of the New York City ADA Diabetes Expo, as well as
        other programs outside the ADA, such as Taking Care of Your Diabetes
        (TCOYD).

    --  Julio Rosenstock, MDJulio Rosenstock is director of the Dallas Diabetes
        Research Center at Medical City and clinical professor of medicine at
        the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center located in Dallas.
        Rosenstock has been the author or co-author of more than 516
        publications, including 278 peer-reviewed manuscripts and numerous
        abstracts. He has also contributed to 13 clinics and book chapters on
        several topics in the field of diabetes. Rosenstock is currently
        associate editor of Diabetes Care, an editorial board member of
        Practical Diabetology and Cardiovascular Diabetology and is an active
        reviewer for several journals. Rosenstock has chaired or been a featured
        speaker at multiple lectures and presentations both nationally and
        internationally.

    --  Otis W. Kirksey, PharmD, R.Ph., CDE, BC-ADMOtis W. Kirksey currently
        serves as the director of pharmacy services for Neighborhood Medical
        Center in Tallahassee, FL. He brings 25 years of experience in academia
        as a former Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Florida A&M University
        College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Prior to his faculty
        appointment he was a clinical pharmacist in Research and Information
        Services at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. He
        served more than 11 years on the board of Neighborhood Medical Center
        and is currently the director of the Prince Hall Shriners' National
        Diabetes Initiative. In this role, he has led the organization's effort
        to fulfill its 10-year, $1 million-dollar commitment to the American
        Diabetes Association, to support research and outreach efforts in
        underserved communities - particularly African American and Hispanic.

    --  Jean O'Connor, JD, DrPH, FACHEJean O'Connor is a senior public health
        practitioner with RTI International, a nonprofit research institute. Her
        work focuses on non-communicable diseases and the systems and policies
        that influence these conditions. She also is on the faculty at the
        Rollins School of Public Health at Emory, on the editorial board for
        Preventing Chronic Disease and a past-president of the National
        Association of Chronic Disease Directors. She is a member of the State
        Bar of Georgia and a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare
        Executives.

The Principal Officers of the Board whose terms of leadership service ended on December 31, 2018 are:

    --  Karen Talmadge, PhD, Chair
    --  Felicia Hill-Briggs, PhD, ABPP, President, Health Care & Education
    --  Jane Reusch, MD, President, Medicine & Science
    --  Michael Ching, CPA, Secretary/Treasurer

About the American Diabetes Association
Approximately every 21 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with diabetes. Nearly half of the American adult population has diabetes or prediabetes, and more than 30 million adults and children are living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization on a mission to prevent and cure diabetes, as well as improve the lives of all people affected by the disease. For nearly 80 years, the ADA has driven discovery by funding research to treat, manage and prevent all types of diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. Magnifying the urgency of this epidemic, the ADA works to safeguard policies and programs that protect people with the illness, those at risk of developing diabetes and the health care professionals who serve them by initiating programs, advocacy and education efforts that can lead to improved health outcomes and quality of life. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit us at diabetes.org. Information is available in English and Spanish. Join the conversation with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contact: Sabrena Pringle, 703-549-1500 ext. 1637
press@diabetes.org

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