Laura A. Young, MD, PhD is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences at Michigan State University, Dr. Young and her MD/PhD from the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Young completed her residency at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and her clinical fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of several professional organizations including American Diabetes Association and Society of Behavioral Medicine. She also serves as an abstract reviewer for the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting. Dr. Young is the author of several articles and book chapters with a focus on behavioral medicine.
Natalie Strand, MD studied Molecular and Cellular biology at the University of Arizona, minoring in Chemistry, Math, and Physics. Later, she studied at Oxford University in England and The American Institute in France. After graduation, she attended Mayo Clinic Medical School and did her residency in Anesthesiology at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center. She later returned to the Mayo Clinic to do a fellowship year in interventional pain management. At the end of her fellowship year, Dr. Strand participated on The Amazing Race with her best friend and colleague, Kat Chang. They competed travelling over 32,000 miles in 3 weeks. Not only were they fortunate to complete the entire race, but they won! This made them the first female/female team to win in Amazing Race history! Dr. Strand is now an Assistant Professor in Clinical Anesthesiology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine where she is practicing Interventional Pain Management as well as teaching.
Rhonda Merwin, Ph.D earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Mississippi. She completed a clinical internship and a clinical fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. She is currently on the medical staff at the Duke University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her specialty is working with people who are experiencing eating disorders. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and published in Diabetes Care (among other journals).
Janis Roszler, MSFT, RD, CDE, LD/N is the 2008-2009 AADE Diabetes Educator of the Year. She is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, and Marriage and Family Therapist. Janis is the author of Diabetes on Your OWN Terms, and co-author of Sex and Diabetes- For Him and For Her (nominated for the 2009 Consumer Book of the Year by the Society for Sex Therapy and Research), and The Secrets of Living and Loving with Diabetes.
Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, BC-ADM is a nationally recognized dietitian and diabetes educator. Hope is most known for her expertise in the areas of healthy restaurant eating and diabetes nutrition management. As a freelance writer, she is the author of several well-known books including The Restaurant Companion: A Guide to Healthier Eating Out, Eat Out, Eat Right, 3rd ed., Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy, and Real Life Guide to Diabetes. Hope has also written consumer articles for diabetes magazines including Diabetes Self-Management and Diabetes Forecast. She is currently a contributing editor and on the editorial board of Diabetic Living. As a media spokesperson she has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, Graham Kerr’s A Gathering Place, TV Food Network, Lifetime Cable and others.
Jennifer M. Perkins, MD studied medicine at the Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire and did her residency at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. She focused on studying endocrinology during her fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. Dr. Perkins clinical interest is pituitary disease, thyroid diseases including thyroid disease in pregnancy and thyroid cancer, adrenal disease, and general endocrinology. She is currently practicing at Duke Endocrinology.
Jennifer Pells, PhD. is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in weight management, eating disorders, management of chronic illnesses, and healthy lifestyle change. She is employed at Wellspring at Structure House, a Durham-based wellness center, where she provides individual therapy and teaches groups on healthy weight management practices and coping with Diabetes. She conducts research on obesity treatment outcomes and has published research articles in Obesity & Weight Management, Eating Behaviors, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, and others. She is a member of the North Carolina Psychological Association and The Obesity Society. She earned her B.A. from Middlebury College and her doctoral degree from University of Maine, and completed pre- and post-doctoral fellowship training in Health Psychology at Duke University Medical Center.
Diana McNeill, MD graduated from Duke University and Duke University School of Medicine. She did her residency in medicine at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson and fellowship in endocrinology, at Duke University Medical Center. Her clinical interests include diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy, intensive insulin therapy, general endocrinology, thyroid, lipid disorders, women's health, and insulin pump therapy. She is a clinician educator who just completed ten years as the Internal Medicine Residency program director at Duke, training over 500 new doctors and now is involved in faculty development and teaching.
Michelle Mielke, MBA, RD, LDN, CDE has an extensive combination of lifestyle coaching and financial management experience. She completed her MBA at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and her bachelor’s in nutrition at University of Minnesota, St. Paul. As a dietitian, Michelle has devoted the past ten years to diabetes management, cardiovascular disease prevention and weight management. Michelle is a Registered Dietitian and a Certified Diabetes Educator. She is currently employed at UNC Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic as a Clinical Diabetes Educator.
Paula Harper, RN, CDE founded IDAA/DESA nearly thirty years ago. She has received recognition and honors for her work that include, established (along with Clifton Bogardus, MD) the American Diabetes Association Professional Council on Exercise and subsequently served as Chair, distinguished Service in Diabetes Award by Squibb-Novo, and Josiah Kirby Lilly Sr. Award by the American Diabetes Association Honorfor person and/or organizations making outstanding contributions to the lives of person with diabetes, impacting the understanding of diabetes, the ability to improve healthcare and the quality of life for individuals and families.
Nancy Lelle-Michel,MSN, CNS, ANM-BD-CDE is a registered nurse with more than 20 years of hospital experience including work in cardiac ICU nursing, med/surgical and ambulatory care. She received a master’s degree in nursing in 2003 in New York. Lelle-Michel moved to North Carolina 8 years ago and started working as diabetes educator at WakeMed in 2005. She currently works at the Duke Diabetes Adult Education Program as a certified diabetes educator and clinical nurse specialist. Lelle-Michel is passionate about pump therapy and CGM therapy. She is Type 1 herself for more than 37 years and has been pumping since 1995. Lelle-Michel has two daughters ages 10 and 14.
Susan Weiner, RD, MS, CDE, CDN is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator and Certified Dietitian/Nutritionist who has a private practice in New York. Her dual masters degree is in “Applied Physiology and Nutrition.” She is a contributing medical producer at dLife TV, a member of dLife’s medical advisory board and a nutritionist and CDE for the diabetes program for TheBestLife.com, Bob Greene’s health and weight loss.
Carol Guarino, MS, RD, CDE, CDN is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator and Certified Dietitian/Nutritionist from New York. She is an instructor of Healthy Cooking classes for busy and budget conscience families.
Clara Schneider MS,RD,RN,CDE,LDN is a Registered Dietitian, Registered Nurse, Certified Diabetes Educator and Licensed Dietitian/ Nutritionist. Her private practice is located in Corolla, North Carolina. She consults for the American Diabetes Association reviewing and commenting on books before publication, the American Institute for Cancer Research, and for "Marion's Smart Delights" as a health adviser. She is the author of three books, The Everything Thyroid Diet Book, The Disease Prevention Cookbook, and The Diabetic's Brand Name Food Exchange Handbook. Clara has work published in the American Diabetes Associations: Gestational Diabetes What to Expect, as well as, consulted for the “Ultimate Diabetes Meal Planner”.
Beverly S. Adler, PhD, CDE is a clinical psychologist and Certified Diabetes Educator, with a private practice in Long Island, New York. She focuses on issues of diabetes management, as well as emotional adjustment such as denial, depression, anger, guilt, stress and anxiety. She recently published: MY SWEET LIFE: Successful Women with Diabetes, a collection of uplifting and inspirational stories, to encourage and motivate self-care.
Connie Hanham-Cain RN, BSN, CDE. Connie has been living with type 1 diabetes since the age of 8 years. Her experiences as a research participant in the DCCT during the 1980s inspired her to follow the calling of becoming a nurse and a CDE to reach out to other people with diabetes. Her professional background includes extensive experience in the application of holistic nursing, therapeutic dance and movement techniques, and energy healing modalities for chronic physical, emotional and psychological health challenges. She has served as a Diabetes Clinical Nurse Specialist and Diabetes Resource Coordinator for two community based home health care agencies in upstate NY, and she has many additional years of experience as a mental health nurse clinician with people of all ages. Publications include “My Sweet Life: Successful Women with Diabetes” as a contributing author, and as contributing author/editor for “Managing Diabetes: Complications and Comorbidities” published by the AADE. In her community she has the pleasure and honor to work with a great team of local DiabetesSisters volunteers and they serve together as Northeast PODS Champions for DiabetesSisters.
Deborah Jones, MSH, CDE is a health educator. She became a Certified Diabetes Educator in 2004. She has been in the field for 12 years.
Amy Stockwell Mercer, MFA is a freelance writer living in Charleston, SC with her husband and three sons. She likes to write about people, art, and living with diabetes, and her work can be found in a variety of publications including Charleston Magazine, The City Paper, Art Papers, Diabetes Health, Literary Mama and skirt magazine. She graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University in Charlotte, NC in 2010 and has recently published a nonfiction book about living with diabetes called, A Smart Women’s Guide to Diabetes, Authentic Advice on Everything from Eating to Dating and Motherhood.
Gary Scheiner, CDE owns and operates Integrated Diabetes Services, a private practice located just outside of Philadelphia specializing in intensive blood glucose control for children and adults. Gary earned a BA in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology from Benedictine University. He received his diabetes training with the Joslin Diabetes Center. He serves as a Board of Directors Officer for the Diabetes Exercise & Sports Association and the faculty of Children With Diabetes. He is an active volunteer for the ADA, JDRF and Setebaid Diabetes Camps. Gary has written four books and dozens of articles on various topics in intensive diabetes management.
Nancy Mayer, J.D. is an attorney at law who runs a solo general practice concentrating on Elder Law, Disability Law, and Immigration Law. She worked for the USEPA for 30 years and has experience with the American Federation of Government Employees, specializing in the Americans with Disabilities Act applications and federal arbitration. She is also an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and North Carolina Association of Women's Attorneys.
Lyndsay Riffe, RD, CDE is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator residing in Milwaukee, working as a clinical manager for Medtronic. She is most passionate about helping others with general healthy eating and diabetes management during exercise. Lyndsay’s drive for not letting type 1 diabetes “get in the way” is evident with her participation in endurance sports. She has completed 1 Ironman triathlon-a 140.6 mile race, 3 half-ironman distance triathlons, 2 marathons, and several half-marathons and sprint/Olympic triathlons. When she is not training, she enjoys traveling, concerts, any outdoor activity, and cooking.
Jennifer C. Smith has more than 10 years of experience working with people to improve their diabetes management. She works at Integrated Diabetes Services as a Dietitian, Pump/CGM Specialist.Previously, she had the opportunity to work at one of the Nation’s top hospitals – Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Nutrition and Biology from the University of Wisconsin. She is a Registered (and Licensed) Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, and Certified Trainer on most makes/models of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring systems. She is an active member of the American Diabetes Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators and Team WILD (We Inspire Life with Diabetes).