Aaron I. Vinik, MD, PhD, FCP, MACP

Dr. Vinik has brought international recognition to Virginia as a result of his research and recent discovery of a gene, which could prove to be a cure for diabetes. The gene, INGAP (islet neogenesis associated protein) is responsible, either alone or in combination with other factors, for stimulating immature cells in the diabetic pancreas to produce insulin. When INGAP protein was administered to diabetic hamsters it was shown to reverse diabetes in 40% to 50% of animals. Animal studies were followed by human, multi-center clinical studies in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, carried out by some of the most highly recognized investigators in the country; the results showed that even in type 1 diabetes an increase in C- peptide, (a measure of islet function), could be induced after 3 months of treatment.

Stanley Schwartz, MD, FACP, FACE

Dr. Schwartz has been awarded the honor of being a TOP DOC by Philadelphia Magazine many times over the years, including 2009, 2010 and 2011 for the treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. For over 30 years, Dr. Schwartz was an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, most recently directing the Diabetes Program at the Philadelphia Heart Institute.

R. Keith Campbell, Professor, B.Pharm, MBA, CDE

R. Keith Campbell is the former Associate Dean and is the Distinguished Professor in Diabetes Care/Pharmacotherapy at the Washington State University College of Pharmacy in Pullman, Washington. He has been a member of the faculty since 1968. Keith is distinguished as being one of the first pharmacists to become a CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator) and has encouraged 100’s of pharmacists to become certified as CDE’s. Keith has truly changed the way pharmacists practice pharmacy. He is an active diabetes educator and is involved in numerous diabetes-related activities. He was the Chair of the Medical Advisory Board for the Washington State Diabetes Control Project funded by the Center for Disease Control. He has served on numerous committees for the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, and the NIH. He was a member of professional panels that wrote the position statements on Blood Glucose Monitoring for both ADA and AADE and assisted the NIH in translating the famous Diabetes Control and Complications Trial to try to change the treatment objectives of diabetes patients. He has a personal interest in diabetes having had Type 1 diabetes for over 61 years. He has used an insulin pump for over 32 years.

Bridget Bellingar, DO, FACOFP

Bridget Bellingar, DO, FACOFP, has been in private practice since 1987, in Seminole, Florida. She is a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Medicine, and an Assistant Professor, Nova Southeastern University, North Miami Beach, Florida; Clinical Faculty Member, Department of Family Medicine, Columbia University General Hospital and Columbia Northside Hospital, Largo, Florida, and Kansas City School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM

Sheri Colberg, PhD, also known as Sheri Colberg-Ochs, is an author, exercise physiologist, and professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University and adjunct professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, both in Norfolk, Virginia. Having earned her...

Paul Chous, M.A., O.D.

Dr. Paul Chous received his undergraduate education at Brown University and the University of California at Irvine, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1985. He received his Masters Degree in 1986 and his Doctorate of Optometry in 1991, both with highest honors from the University of California at Berkeley. More...

Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD, FASHP

Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD (hon.), DPS (hon.), is president of The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a non-profit healthcare organization that specializes in understanding the causes of medication errors and providing error-reduction strategies to the healthcare community, policy makers, and the public. He is editor of the textbook, Medication Errors (2007 American Pharmaceutical Association) and serves as co-editor of the ISMP Medication Safety Alert! publications that reach over 2 million health professionals and consumers in the US, as well as regulatory authorities and others in over 30 foreign countries. He is editor for the ISMP consumer website, www.consumermedsafety.org and writes a weekly blog for the Philadelphia Inquirer website, Philly.com, which also appears occasionally in the newspaper. Dr. Cohen currently serves as Vice Chair of the Patient Safety Advisory Group for the Joint Commission (which creates the National Patient Safety Goals). He also served recently as a member of the National Quality Forum’s Voluntary Consensus Standards Maintenance Committee (CSMC) on Safe Practices and serves as a consultant to the US Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee. In 2005 he was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Anne Peters, MD, CDE

Dr. Peters is the director of the USC Clinical Diabetes Program. Dr. Peters received her medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine before proceeding to Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California, to perform her internship and residency in internal medicine. She completed an endocrinology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was in charge of the Comprehensive Diabetes Program at Cedars and then moved to UCLA, where she ran the Clinical Diabetes Program there. Because of an interest in working with the underserved, she subsequently moved to USC.

Raymond L. Raitz, MD

Dr. Raitz is currently president of North River Family Health Center, in Palmetto, Florida. He is also Director of Medical Affairs for North River Fire District where he has designed Health & Wellness, and agility testing programs. He is on the Lilly Advisory Board. Dr. Raitz went on to attend Ohio State University College of Medicine where he received his medical degree in 1973. His postgraduate internship and residency were completed at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio from 1973-1976. Dr. Raitz came to Palmetto and began practicing at North River Family Health Center in 1976. He served as Manatee Memorial Hospital's Chief of Staff in 1988 and also proudly serves as the physician for the North River Fire District.

Maria Emanuel Ryan, DDS, PhD

Dr. Maria Emanuel Ryan, a Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine graduate, is a tenured full Professor in the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology at the School of Dental Medicine and a member of the Medical Staff at University Hospital at Stony Brook University Medical Center. She also serves as the Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and External Affairs. Dr. Ryan received her specialty training in periodontics at the University of Connecticut Health Center, and her Ph.D in Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook. Dr. Ryan is actively involved in teaching, practice and research and served as the Director of Clinical Research. She currently serves on several scientific, dental and medical advisory boards.

Lawrence A. Lavery

A medical professor, noted researcher, international lecturer and inventor, Dr. Lawrence Lavery is considered one of the world's leading experts in diabetic foot complications. He develops highly specialized educational and instructional courses at the national and international level, while also serving as professor of surgery at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas.