Sansum Diabetes Research Institute hosts its popular fundraiser, the 10^th Annual Taste of the Vine & Auction, on Saturday, August 20, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at QAD, Inc. on the bluffs in Summerland. Event proceeds support medical research to cure, treat, and prevent diabetes.

Taste outstanding wine, beer, and food from 40 of the central coast’s best purveyors. Enjoy the spectacular view, music by Society Jazz, and a live auction featuring auctioneer John Palminteri.  Bid on vacation packages, wine and numerous silent auction items.

Rabobank, N.A. is the Estate Sponsor. Other top sponsors to date include Nancy and Thomas S. Crawford, Jr., Montecito Bank & Trust, Boyd Communication and Linda Boyd, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, the Inserra family, James and Amy Sloan, the Coeta & Donald Barker Foundation, and the Henry W. Bull Foundation.

Michael E. Nissenson has been elected to the Board of Trustees and has been appointed to serve on the Development Committee.      

Mr. Nissenson is President of Ventura Resources, Inc., a commercial Real Estate management company. He has over 50 years of real estate and construction experience.

In the not-for-profit world, Nissenson is the Chairman of the Moishe Foundation, an international chain of Jewish educational programs operating in 14 countries. He is also a Board member of the Health & Fitness Authority, an Overseer at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and has served as President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, and on the Executive Committee and Board of the Jewish Federations of North America. Other past Board service has included Beit T’Shuvah, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Hillel UCSB, and Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic.

Originally from Los Angeles, Nissenson graduated from UCLA and has resided in Santa Barbara for over 10 years.

Dana Newquist and Ayesha Shaikh, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. have been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.

Dana Newquist is the owner of Mission Villa, a complete-care home for seniors with Alzheimer’s in Santa Barbara, where he is actively involved in the care of the patients. Newquist has lived in Santa Barbara for 50 years; the majority of his career was spent working for the Squibb Company in pharmaceutical sales and as the founder of several local businesses. He also serves on the board of directors of the Montecito Fire Protection District, the Coeta and Donald Barker Foundation, and volunteers for the local Alzheimer’s Association. A graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, he served in the U.S. Army.

Since 1984 Ayesha Shaikh, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. has practiced at Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara, California and served as Chief of Staff and Chairman of the OB-GYN Department. She is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a member of the American Medical Women’s Association and the American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopies. Dr. Shaikh serves on the Board of Directors for Direct Relief International, the Santa Barbara County Medical Society, and Santa Barbara Middle School.

After graduating with a MBBS from Madras University, she obtained her medical degree from Bombay University, and an OBGYN residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center of Chicago.

Robert A. Reid, M.D., has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Research.

Dr. Reid recently retired as Director of Medical Affairs for Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara, California and served as Chief of Staff and was a member of the Board of Directors of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Prior to joining Cottage, he practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology in Santa Barbara for 24 years attending the birth of 5000 babies. [Read more...]

Thomas W. Rook, D.C., has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Research and appointed to serve on the Nomination/Board Development Committee.

Dr. Rook has practiced in Santa Barbara since 1980 and in 2004 he founded the Rook Family Tree Chiropractic Clinic of Integrative Medicine. He also is a Diplomat of the National Board of Chiropractic Advisors and a member of the Santa Barbara, the California, and the American Chiropractic Associations.

Dr. Rook obtained his chiropractic degree from the Western States Chiropractic College in Portland Oregon, after graduating with a degree in Physical Anthropology from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Sansum Diabetes Research Institute announces the creation of the Department of Diabetes Education and Outreach, strengthening its efforts to provide preeminent service to the local community.

This restructuring recognizes the important place Diabetes Education and Outreach programs have taken at the Institute and in the community including the highly successful Santa Barbara Diabetes Initiative in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics. Other departmental efforts include weekly classes and educational handouts, pregnancy programs at the County Clinic, the Ready to Move program at Santa Barbara High School, and a healthy family program in collaboration with the YMCA.

Their newest endeavors include educational aids displayed at the Institute’s yearly fundraiser, Taste of the Vine, including a bilingual cookbook, Eat Well With Diabetes/Comer Bien con Diabetes, and – beginning this year – a Diabetes Walk in collaboration with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The department will be directed by Jenifer Gaffaney, MS, RD, CDE. Ms. Gaffaney said, “I am thrilled to be a part of expanding our education and outreach programs to meet the educational needs of the thousands of community members living with diabetes in Santa Barbara and those who can benefit from our efforts”.

Wayne Hewitt has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute and appointed to serve on the Development, Finance, and Taste of the Vine Committees.

Hewitt is a financial advisor for Edward Jones of Santa Barbara. Previously, he was Global Design and Strategy Manager at the Robert Bosch Corporation.

Hewitt received a Masters in Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Valparaiso University. He also holds a Financial Planning Certificate from Kaplan University.

Gary and Harlene Conlin were honored as Volunteers of the Year by SDRI.

The award was presented at the April Board of Trustee meeting by Ellen Goodstein, SDRI board member.

The Conlins are long-standing members of The Institute’s Development and Taste of the Vine Benefit committees. Their dedication is shown though their tireless fundraising efforts and event video productions. Currently, they are working on a documentary of Lois Jovanovic, M.D., SDRI CEO & Chief Scientific Officer.

After receiving the award, Harlene stated “I can\’t tell you how much it means to us to be just a very small part of your wonderful institute and the cause for which we are all fighting.”

Gary and Harlene Conlin along with sons David and William form the award winning creative team at You\’re The Star Video Productions. Since 1985, their artistic productions have been recognized nationally, most recently with a 2008 WAVE Award. They have won three Telly Awards, two Communicator Awards, two Accolade Awards and an Aegis Award among others. They were voted 2008 & 2009 ”Best of Wedding-Videographers” by The Knot Magazine. They are also members of the Wedding and Event Videographers Association International. 

Gary and Harlene are founders and sit on the board of The Santa Barbara Event Professionals. But, “they are most proud of their ongoing work on behalf of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.”

UCSB Dean Pierre Wiltzius, Ph.D. has been elected to the SDRI Board of Trustees and appointed to serve on the Objectivity in Science, Scientific Program Review and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees.

Dr. Wiltzius returns to UC Santa Barbara, where he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow 25 years ago, as the Susan and Bruce Worster Dean of Science, Division of Mathematical, Life and Physical Sciences, College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a faculty member in the Department of Physics. Previously, Wiltzius was the director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and held faculty appointments in the Department of Physics and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.  Wiltzius spent 17 years at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies in Murray Hill, New Jersey, 9 of which were managerial level research and development. Dean Wiltzius received his Ph.D. in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland. 

Among his many prestigious awards, Wiltzius received the R&D100 Innovation Award from R&D Magazine for printed plastic display circuits. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology.

SDRI CEO & Chief Scientific Officer, Lois Jovanovič, M.D., will receive the Master of American College of Endocrinology (MACE) Award. This award is presented annually to an Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) member in recognition as a distinguished practicing endocrinologist, role model for developing endocrinologists, and contributor to AACE, and to the art and science of Endocrinology.

According to Donald Bergman, M.D., FACE Chair of the AACE/ACE Awards committee, “Lois is one of the few physicians alive today who has truly changed the way clinicians practice medicine. Her original work with pregnant diabetic women has made pregnancy safe for mothers with diabetes and their babies. This is an extraordinary achievement and the American College of Endocrinology is honored to present Dr. Lois Jovanovič with the Mastership in the American College of Endocrinology.”

Dr. Jovanovič was nominated by Alex DePaoli, M.D., and the ACE Board of Trustees who were pleased to give their enthusiastic approval to her selection for this unique distinction in recognition of her many accomplishments and contributions in the field of clinical endocrinology. The Award will be presented at the American College of Endocrinology Convocation on Saturday, May 16, 2009, during the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 18th Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas.