Don Wright, MD, MPH
Acting Assistant Secretary for Health
Director, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Don Wright is currently the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health and has been the Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion since January 3, 2012. In this capacity, he leads the coordination and policy development for public health and prevention activities within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ODPHP is responsible for Healthy People 2020, a framework for public health priorities and actions comprised of a comprehensive set of 10-year national health objectives. As Director of ODPHP, he also provides leadership for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, evidence-based nutrition policy, and is the Chief Medical Advisor for healthfinder.gov.
Prior to joining the ODPHP team, Dr. Wright served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Healthcare Quality. From 2007 to 2009, he was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health within HHS. During this time, he was appointed by the president to serve as the alternate U.S. delegate to the World Health Organization Executive Board. Before joining HHS, Dr. Wright was Director of the Office of Occupational Medicine for the U.S. Department of Labor, where he built strong governmental and non-governmental partnerships addressing safety and health.
Dr. Wright received an undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University, a medical degree from the University of Texas, and a master’s degree in public health from the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Cathy Abramson
Patient; Saulte Ste Marie Tribe
Indian Health Service
Cathy Abramson was elected to the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Board of Directors in 1996 and served her Tribe for 20 years. During that time, she served in several roles that improved the lives of Tribal membership and Natives across the country.
Cathy represented the Bemidji area Tribes (Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota) on the National Indian Health Board and served as the board Chairperson for several years. Cathy also served on the HHS Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC) as the first female Chairwoman, where she was able to advance Tribal priorities directly with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She also served on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tribal Advisory Board and Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee as the Bemidji Area Representative. In 2010 she received the IHS Director’s Special Recognition Award in Tribal Leadership and Partnership. In 2016, Cathy was bestowed the prestigious Jake White Crow Award by the National Indian Health Board for outstanding lifetime achievements in elevating health care advocacy, raising awareness or affecting change for American Indian and Alaska Native Health care.
Brian Burke, MD
Chief, Diabetes Service, co-chair, Veterans Administration’s Choosing Wisely/ Hypoglycemic Safety Initiative, Veterans Health Administration
Brian Burke is a graduate of University of Virginia School Medicine, and he did his residency in Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University. He is currently completing his MPH degree at Wright State University. He is an assistant professor, Internal Medicine & Endocrinology at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University. He is the current Chief of the Diabetes Service and Lead Physician in the Heart Failure Clinic, Dayton VA. Brian is an active clinical researcher and medical educator and national Co-Chair for the VA’s Choosing Wisely/Hypoglycemic Safety Initiative.
Kelly Close
Founder & Editor-in-Chief, diaTribe.org; President, Close Concerns, Inc.
Kelly L. Close is the founder and Chair of the Board of The diaTribe Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of people living with diabetes and prediabetes, and advocating for action. Since 2006, she has been the Editor-in-Chief of diaTribe, our free website focused on making people with diabetes healthier and happier and advocating for action. Since 2002, she has also run Close Concerns, a healthcare information firm exclusively focused on diabetes and obesity. Each year Kelly and her colleagues attend over 50 scientific, regulatory, and economic conferences around the world, focused on diabetes and obesity; they read the key medical literature in the field and write regularly about 50-plus private and public companies and nonprofit organizations. Kelly’s passion for diabetes comes from her extensive professional work as well as her personal experience as a type 1 patient for nearly 30 years.
Wendy Frisby
Diabetes Advocacy Alliance
Wendy Frisby is a native Marylander for more than 40 years. She earned a Business Administration degree from Morgan State University in 1991 with a concentration in Marketing and also is working on a Masters in Science in Healthcare Quality at George Washington University.
She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 + years, working with providers, employers, integrated delivery networks, associations and payers. She is currently an Account Executive with Novo Nordisk working in the Baltimore/DC metropolitan area.
She has lived with diabetes for more than 15 years and was diagnosed after the birth of her first child. Having several family members to die from cardiovascular disease and complications of diabetes, she is inspired to work hard to manage her diabetes and share her stories that may support and inspire others to do the same.
She is married with 2 children, Peyton and Brock and resides in Davidsonville, MD.
Alaina Fournier
Health Communications Specialist, Agency for Health Care Research and Quality
Alaina Fournier, PhD, is a Health Scientist Administrator in the Division of Practice Improvement, a part of the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Dr. Fournier has spent the last 10 years working to encourage the use of AHRQ’s work in patient-centered outcomes research in practice. Dr. Fournier recently led the development and implementation of the SHARE Approach, AHRQ’s train-the-trainer workshop program for using PCOR in shared decision making. Dr. Fournier now leads AHRQ’s PCOR Dissemination and Implementation Initiative to identify promising PCOR findings that have the potential for direct impact on patient health outcomes through investment in implementation projects.
Sandra C. Hedin, PharmD, BCACP – VISN 12
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Co-lead of Veterans Health Administration Choosing Wisely-Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative
Dr. Sandra Hedin has been a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist within the VA since 2008. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy and is a Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist. She currently provides Chronic Disease Management in Primary Care at 5 clinics within the Midwest, utilizing telehealth technology. She is the co-lead of the VHA Choosing Wisely® Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative – a voluntary initiative whose goal is to increase hypoglycemia awareness and promote shared decision making though educational efforts and improved informatics.
Beverley Johnson
President/CEO
Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care
Beverley H. Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) in Bethesda, MD. She has provided technical assistance and consultation for advancing the practice of patient- and family-centered care and creating effective partnerships with patients and families to over 300 hospitals, health systems, federal, state, provincial agencies, military treatment facilities, and community organizations. Bev served on the inaugural Advisory Board for the American College of Physicians’ Center for Patient Partnership in Healthcare. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) and has recently been appointed to the Board of Directors for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). She also serves on the Selection Committee for the American Hospital Association Quest for Quality Prize.
Bev is a past recipient of the Lloyd Bentsen Award and the Humanitarian Award from Pediatric Nursing. In 2007, she received The Gravens Award for leadership in promoting optimal environments and developmental care for high-risk infants and their families, and The Changemaker Award by the Board for the Center for Health Care Design. In 2008, the National Perinatal Association presented Bev with the Stanley L. Graven Award. More recently, she was a recipient of a Dorland Health 2011 People Award. In 2017, she was recognized by the American College of Physicians with the Edward R. Loveland Memorial Award. Bev also brings the perspective of someone living with Type One diabetes.
Christine Lee, PharmD, PhD
Professional Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Christine Lee, PharmD, PHD is a General Health Scientist and works in FDA’s Safe use initiative. Christine earned her PhD from the University of Florida, where her focus was on social and behavioral sciences and her PharmD degree from the University of Buffalo. Her past research has focused on professionalism, ethical decision-making and measuring behavior. Christine Currently works at FDA as part of FDA’s Safe Use Initiative team. The Initiative aims to reduce preventable harm by identifying specific, preventable medication risks and developing, implementing, and evaluating cross-sector interventions with partners who are committed to safe medication use. Christine co-leads the Federal interagency workgroup for hypoglycemia prevention and facilitates collaboration among federal and private organizations to implement and disseminate high impact research to reduce preventable harm. Her current study seeks to understand how to best communicate information to minority groups and using unstructured data (social media, focus groups, and transcripts, public docket comments) to understand the patient voice so that agency can make better regulatory decisions.
Paul Madden MEd
Director of Diabetes & Behavioral Health for the American Diabetes Association
An accomplished program leader, advocate, speaker, educator, trainer, fundraiser, business and partnership development leader serving on numerous national and international leadership teams: T1D Alliance, IDF, ADA, AADE, JDRF, DECA, DESA, Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliated w/Harvard Medical School, JJDI/J&J, Children with Diabetes, Marion Wing Trust (underserved w/diabetes), Diabetes Hands Foundation, Project Hope, etc. Paul has initiated, co-developed, led, and supported numerous, successful patient education/support and professional diabetes and wellness programs. He has a special focus on patient empowerment, advocacy focused on access, partnership recruitment and development, education including web based certification and training programs; the development, implementation, and sharing of best clinical and research practices; developing and supporting successful nonprofit, medical, corporate and government partnerships that improve diabetes funding and physical and emotional health and life outcomes for people living with diabetes. While at Joslin (25+ yrs.) he took the lead to raise over $25m for innovative, life improving clinical, outreach, and research programs. Several of the programs he initiated and/or co-developed remain financially sustainable, vital programs enhancing the lives of people living with diabetes. As Chair/Medical Advisor for MyCareTeam Co. (first FDA approved diabetes management software) and the Timesulin Co. he advised on and patient and professional education/mental health needs/outcomes/solutions while opening doors with new senior leaders. At PepsiCo and J&J he secured new partners and opportunities while identifying and developing solutions to improve lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes. As Project HOPE’s Senior Director for Diabetes/NCDs in Global Health Paul took the lead with colleagues and vital partners to implement needed outcomes measures as he developed, initiated and oversaw unique and successful training programs for community health workers, peers and professionals including an internationally recognized web based training for medical professionals improving patient centered care programs. Results demonstrated participants were leading fuller, healthier, more productive lives. Paul now serves as the Managing Director of Diabetes & Behavioral Health for the American Diabetes Association developing and refining pilots for people living with diabetes that can be translated into sustainable programs with optimal partners to help secure improved health (physical and emotional) and life (family, career, productivity) outcomes.
LaShawn McIver, MD, MPH
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs & Advocacy
American Diabetes Association
Dr. LaShawn McIver is Senior Vice President, Government Affairs & Advocacy, of the American Diabetes Association (Association). The Association is the global authority on diabetes and has worked to tackle this international public health crisis since 1940 by spearheading research and innovation, raising awareness, and providing support and advocating for people living with diabetes. Dr. McIver provides strategic direction and oversight of the American Diabetes Association’s advocacy activities, which are focused on increasing federal and state funding for diabetes research and programs; preventing diabetes; improving the availability of accessible, adequate, and affordable health care; and eliminating discrimination against people with diabetes at school, work and elsewhere in their lives. Her work bolsters the organization’s efforts to raise urgency about the diabetes epidemic nationally and internationally. As the Association’s spokesperson on government affairs and public policy, Dr. McIver is a thought leader on health disparities and diabetes advocacy issues and works with media outlets and strategic partners to educate and empower people affected by diabetes. Most recently, Dr. McIver has been featured on CNN International, MSNBC and in various national news coverage of efforts to replace and/or repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Dr. McIver joined the Association in 2011 to serve as the Vice President of Public Policy & Strategic Alliances, where she led the development and execution of the Association’s public policy agenda on initiatives related to increasing access to affordable healthcare, health equity, prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetes. In her role, she also led the Association’s positions on federal and state legislative and regulatory activities related to diabetes care. Prior to her tenure at the Association, Dr. McIver earned a Medical Degree in International Health & Medicine from the Medical School for International Health in collaboration with Columbia University’s Medical Center and a Master’s Degree of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. From 2009 to 2011, she served as the inaugural HIV/AIDS fellow for the Congressional Black Caucus’ Center for Policy Analysis and Research. Over the course of her career, she has led numerous public health initiatives at the local, state and national level including efforts impacting diabetes, HIV/AIDS and adolescent health. Dr. McIver’s work on diabetes in minority populations has been published multiple times in Clinical Diabetes, and she currently serves on the National Medical Association’s Community Prevention & Wellness Advisory Board. As a physician, public health professional and government affairs expert with more than 14 years of experience, Dr. McIver brings a collaborative approach to working nationally and in the global health care ecosystem; a focus on systemically addressing diabetes disparities; and an innovative approach to public policy initiatives to prevent and cure diabetes, and make life better for all people with and affected by diabetes.
Leonard Pogach, MD, MBA
VACO National Director, Medical Services/Diabetes and Endocrinology, Office of Specialty Care/Office of Patient Care Services, Veterans Health Administration
Dr. Pogach was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, received his MD degree from Hahnemann Medical College; completed an Internal Medicine Residency at Temple University Health Sciences Center; a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Boston University Health Sciences Center; and obtained a Master’s in Business Administration from Seton Hall University. He has been employed by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for over 36 years, including 31 years at the VA- New Jersey Health Care. He was the founding Medical Director of the first Federal American Diabetes Association Recognized Patient Education Program in 1989, and was appointed as the VHA National Director of Diabetes in 1991. Since the mid-1990s he has had multiple Federal leadership roles in evidence based medicine, performance measurement, national educational campaigns, and research on diabetes outcomes. Since 2012 he has been the co-lead of the Department of Health and Human Services National Action Plan for Prevention of Adverse Drug Events-Diabetes Agents, and has managed the VA Choosing Wisely –Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative Taskforce. He has been a leading advocate for avoiding glycemic overtreatment, recognizing hypoglycemic safety as a public health issue, and advocating for shared decision making and patient centeredness in establishing glycemic targets and treatment preferences. In 2012, he was appointed as the National Director for Medicine, Office of Specialty Care, VA Central Office.
Clydette Powell, MD, MPH, FAAP
Director, Division of Health Care Quality, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS
Doctor Powell serves as the Director of the Division of Health Care Quality, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD. Her responsibilities include oversight of the federal efforts to advance two National Action Plans: one for the prevention of Health Care Associated Infections and the other for prevention of Adverse Drug Events. Prior to her work at HHS, Dr. Powell served as Medical Officer, US Agency for International Development, Washington, DC. Her medical degree was awarded by The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and her MPH is from UCLA School of Public Health. Her residencies and fellowship training were at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She is triple- board certified in pediatrics, child neurology, and preventive medicine/public health. She practices part-time clinical medicine at a federally qualified health center in Virginia.
Barbarajean (Bj) Shaneman-Robinson
Senior Program Specialist, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland
Her love for health and community, Bj Shaneman is a positive and strong community nurse advocate. The first Native American Indian /Black female student to attend the University of Virginia nursing program, she graduated with honors. She continued her education in nursing, Sociology and Psychology by attending Coppin State University and Catonsville Community College with several degrees obtained. During her education at Catonsville Community College she served as president of the Black Student Union for two years during the time when people of color were often shunned. As a military brat and a nurse at the Quantico Navy and Marine Base in Virginia many of her experiences opened pathways for the work she now does in many statewide communities as well in other states.
Co-founder of the Park West Medical Center, 44 years ago and Mind, Heart and Body Program, 30 years ago, her path of giving back to the community began. Her medical practice in research of hypertension, diabetes and other health related disparities with Dr. Elijah Sanders for over 25 years allotted her continued work within the communities she loves.
Now retired, Bj volunteers her time, healthcare skills and knowledge, providing free healthcare services and is the accredited developer and /or founder for several community healthcare programs; “Our Community Comes First”, a provider of Hypertension Research with the National Institute of Health; “Mind, Heart and Body Program”, provider of healthcare awareness knowledge and hands-on services during community health fairs; Park West Medical Center, founded in Brown’s Memorial Church, provider of needed community healthcare; Baltimore American Indian Center serving the health needs through traditional verses Western medicine to this population; Co-developer for the Men and Family Center in which she changed the name from” Men Center” in order to give dignity to the men served, a new meaning in family nurturing; St. Matthew’s Community Long-Term Outreach Program/Center founder in the St. Matthew’s Gospel Tabernacle Apostolic Faith Church, based on a real dream of Bishop William A. and Elder Roselee Thomas to give back to the community through healthcare and education in the community where the church sits; Grant Writing 101, “Meat and Potatoes” of Grant Writing developed to strengthen the community in giving back to their communities and entrepreneurship and the BJ Women’s Wellness Center, host site Women Accepting Responsibility, Inc. provider of women’s healthcare.
She is published in many medical journals for her research in hypertension, vaccines and drug therapy. Authoring several health education tools on Men’s Health for Morgan State University’s “New Minority Men’s Health Consortium”; Cancer Among Men for “Bishops Annual Meeting”, St. Matthew’s Gospel Tabernacle Apostolic Faith Church and Health Navigator for Women and Breast Cancer for “Total Health Care Medical Center” staff through the Komen for the Cure Foundation.
She wears many hats to bring and to assure partnerships of healthcare services will benefit the community residents and clients she serve.
Lorraine Stiehl
Diabetes Patient Advocate for 30 Years
Lorraine Stiehl has been a diabetes partner and patient advocate for over 30 years. Together with her husband who has had type 1 diabetes for nearly six decades, they have survived and thrived with this chronic disease and its complications. Lorraine has been active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) since 1987. As a local, regional and national staff member for 14 years, she launched 17 chapters in 13 states and raised millions of dollars to support diabetes research. As a volunteer leader, she served as national chair for grassroots advocacy and chaired the national advocacy committee on the international board of directors. Lorraine was named 1992 national staff member of the year and 2010 national volunteer of the year. Lorraine helped to create the University of California, San Francisco Diabetes Center, partnering with its renowned diabetes researchers and clinicians for 13 years. Through her family’s consulting firm, StiehlWorks, Lorraine has provided marketing, communications, and development leadership to the diaTribe Foundation, Diabetes Hands Foundation, Diabetes Research Connection, Diabetes Empowerment Foundation, Students with Diabetes, Lymphoma Research Foundation, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. To support her passion for medical research and patient health, Lorraine recruits for clinical trials including Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, and advocates for diabetes regulatory, reimbursement, and access issues in partnership with the Washington DC-based public policy and advocacy firm, HCM Strategists.
Chris Stiehl
Patient with Type 1 Diabetes for 57 Years
Chris Stiehl is one of only about 4,000 people in the United States who has had Type 1 diabetes for more than 50 years. He has had T1D for 57 years so far, and still counting. Chris was diagnosed at a time when people with diabetes were “flying blind,” not ever knowing what their blood sugars were. Chris’ dad would take him to the hospital fasting on Saturday morning for a blood draw. The hospital would call on Tuesday afternoons to tell Chris and his parents what his Saturday morning blood sugar had been. Chris used to sharpen his permanent needle on a pumice stone to keep it sharp. He would boil his glass syringe in water to keep it sanitary. Once a week he would boil it in vinegar to get rid of the crystalline deposits from the beef and pork insulins he used. He has participated in the Joslin medalist studies of 50+ year survivors and was the first human to receive a beta cell transplant through an endoscopic procedure. Chris’ career has taken him many places, including the University of Michigan for graduate degrees in Experimental Psychology and Industrial & Operations Engineering, with a specialty in Human Factors Engineering. He has worked for Eli Lilly and Company, re-engineering jobs so that injuries were prevented and women and smaller men could do them; Wyle Laboratories, conducting research on boating safety for the US Coast Guard and Nuclear Power Plant safety for various utilities at the behest of the NRC, resulting in Chris being one of only 7 human factors specialists invited by the Carter administration to analyze the Three Mile Island event and make recommendations to prevent such events; Polaroid Corporation, again working on job design with an emphasis on access to all jobs for women, among other assignments; General Motors – Cadillac Division, working on market research and competitive intelligence, including working on the application resulting in Cadillac winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990; Pacific Gas & Electric, leading their efforts in market research, with an emphasis on public acceptance of renewable energy and energy efficiency in home improvement projects; StiehlWorks, a consultancy with clients and projects in healthcare and diabetes (syringe design, blood sugar meter use, insulin pump design, continuous glucose sensor use, erectile dysfunction medications, recruiting volunteers for testing new treatments and devices for diabetes, and public acceptance of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine), as well as marketing and engineering consulting projects all over the world. Chris has taught at major universities across the country (UC-San Diego, U of Michigan, U of Alabama Huntsville, Northeastern University, Harvard, and UC-Berkeley).Chris co-authored the Barnes & Noble “Best-Selling” business book Pain Killer Marketing, reaching as high as the 41st most popular book in the country in March, 2008.
John Whyte, MD, MPH
Director, Professional Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
John J. Whyte, MD, MPH is currently the Director of Professional Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement at the Center for Drugs Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In this role, Dr. Whyte works with health care professionals, patients, patient advocates, and others involved in the use of medicines. His office provides them with a focal point for advocacy, enhanced two-way communication, and collaboration, and assists them in navigating the FDA on issues concerning drug development, review, and drug safety. He also oversees the Safe Use program and supports the ongoing partnerships and activities under the Safe Use Initiative. Dr. Whyte is a board-certified internist. He completed an internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center as well as earned a Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy and Management at Harvard University School of Public Health. Prior to arriving in Washington, Dr. Whyte was a health services research fellow at Stanford and attending physician in the Department of Medicine. He has written extensively in the medical and lay press on health policy issues. His book Is This Normal? The Essential Guide to Middle Age and Beyond has won numerous awards. His most recent book, AARP New American Diet: Lose Weight, Live Longer is a national best-seller.
Partnering to Prevent Hypoglycemia