Regional Health Care and Education Leaders to Learn About Diabesity
Raleigh, N.C. � WakeMed Health & Hospitals has invited Francine Ratner Kaufman, M.D., to speak with regional health care and education leaders about the severity of the obesity and diabetes epidemic � especially in children � and what they can do to help curb this disturbing trend. She will be speaking at the WakeMed Raleigh Campus in the Andrews Conference Center at 3 pm on Thursday, November 2, 2006.
Kaufman is a well-know expert in the fields of diabetes and obesity. She recently served as president of the American Diabetes Association, was instrumental in banning the sale of soda in Los Angeles schools and has authored numerous books on diabetes and obesity, including Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic that Threatens American and What We Must do to Stop It.
Representatives from public school systems, YMCAs, health insurance companies, medical organizations and others from our region have been invited to hear Kaufman speak. During her presentation, she will discuss the diagnosis of diabetes, the world history of both diabetes and obesity, and what policy makers must do to fix the problem.
Kaufman is director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center, and head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Kaufman is Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, and an attending physician at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Kaufman has published more than 95 peer-reviewed publications, as well as more than 65 other articles (non-peer reviewed). She is the author of more than 30 books or book chapters. In 2005 her book, Diabesity, was published by Bantam. Kaufman is chair of the National Institutes of Health funded Studies to Treat (the TODAY Trial) or Prevent (the HEALTHY Trial) Type 2 Diabetes in Youth (STOPP-T2). She is a principal investigator of TrialNet, a multinational consortium evaluating ways to prevent type 1 diabetes, funded by the NIH.
Kaufman was national president of the American Diabetes Association in 2002-03. In 2005, she became a member of the board of directors of Shaping America�s Health. She also has been active with the JDRF, National Diabetes Education Program (Chair of the Educational Materials Subcommittee of Diabetes and the School, Chair, Study Group on Diabetes in Pregnancy, and Vice President elect, to become Vice President in 2007, and Chair in 2008 for three-year term), and International Diabetes Federation (she serves as chair of the Youth Consultative Section). In 2005, she was elected Membership in the Institute of Medicine and in 2006 awarded the Distinguished Professor rank for USC.
