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.

Bradley Herrema has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.

Herrema is an associate in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Santa Barbara office where his practice is focused in water law.

Herrema received his undergraduate degree in Biology & Spanish at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and his Juris Doctor at the University of Michigan Law School.

He is a member of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute’s Development Committee and also previously served as Family Selection Committee Secretary for Habitat for Humanity for Southern Santa Barbara County.

Robert M. Nagy, M.D., has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.

Since 2001 Dr. Nagy has had a private practice in general and geriatric psychiatry in Santa Barbara. He also is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at University of Southern California, a member of the American Medical Association, Southern California Psychiatric Society and the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Nagy obtained his medical degree from University of Southern California, after graduating with a degree in biology from University of California, Los Angeles.

Lois Kaplan has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.

Kaplan retired after 21 years as a high school librarian in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She also taught high school English and served as a project consultant.

Kaplan has a long history of community involvement and now serves as president of the Friends of the Luria Library at Santa Barbara City College and as a member of the Affiliates Board at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

She received a Master’s degree in Library Science from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan.

Stephanie Torres has joined SDRI as Clinical Administrative Assistant and Patient Secretary. Torres provides administrative and patient support and is a member of the special events committee.

Formerly she was an associate at Nordstrom, Development Coordinator at Unity Shoppe Santa Barbara, and Associate Director at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She is a former board member of the Women’s Economic Venture.

Torres is completing coursework for an AA in liberal studies at SBCC.

Sansum Diabetes Research Institute honored Yasue Omori, M.D. with the W.D. Sansum Award for Science on June 2, 2008 at the Four Seasons Biltmore. SDRI Board President Christopher Haskell presented the award to Dr. Omori for her pioneering work in the field of diabetes. She is the first female recipient of the Sansum Science award.

Following a garden reception, Dr. Omori presented the story of her life-long dedication to diabetes and pregnancy, “The Road I Walked.” When she began her career in the 1960s there was no medical treatment or research on women with diabetes in Japan and doctors discouraged diabetic women from becoming pregnant. Omori organized the Diabetes Pregnancy Study Group (DPSG) in Japan and began reading publications by SDRI CEO Dr. Lois Jovanovic and other leaders in the field. She also conducted research with physicians in Canada and Switzerland. The goal of the DPSG was to educate the public and improve physician’s knowledge. Today, due to Dr. Omori’s efforts in Japan,  healthy babies are delivered in women with diabetes and mortality rates have declined.

Dr. Omori is the first female Director of the Diabetes Center of Tokyo Women’s Medical College, the first female President of the Japan Society of Diabetes, and is the Director of the Diabetes Center in Ebina General Hospital in Tokyo. Additionally, she mentors young doctors, sees patients, conducts research, and writes publications.