Dr. Tariq Ahmad

Pediatric Endocrinologist, UCSF Children's Hospital Oakland

Presenting: Teen Track "Ready, Set, Go - College" & Community Summit "Diabetes 101: For Caregivers & Grandparents"

Dr. Tariq Ahmad is a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF Children's Hospital Oakland with special interests in type 1 diabetes; growth disorders; and diseases of the endocrine gland associated with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder.

Ahmad earned his medical degree at New York Medical College. He completed a residency in pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic Children's and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Ahmad is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a member of the Endocrine Society and American Diabetes Association, and an member of the Pediatric Endocrine Society. He serves on the medical advisory board of Diabetes Youth Families and the medical providers council for Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), a nonprofit dedicated to research, advocacy and support to improve the lives of people affected by type 1 diabetes. He has presented and lectured around the country extensively on topics in pediatric endocrinology. He serves as associate director for UCSF's fellowship program in pediatric endocrinology.

Dr. Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill

Ph.D., APRN, CDCES, and Associate Vice President at Breakthrough T1D

Presenting: Community Summit Keynote "Accelerating Breakthroughs: Delay, Prevention, and Cell Therapies for Type 1 Diabetes"

Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, Ph.D., APRN, CDCES is associate vice  president at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), where she is responsible for the Community Screening and Clinical Trial Education Department, which is focused on accelerating progress toward cures for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and raising awareness about early detection of T1D.

After earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in political science and international relations from the University of California, Los Angeles, Albanese-O’Neill enjoyed a successful career as a marketing executive at Southwest Airlines and later in higher education. When her oldest child was diagnosed with T1D, she pivoted to earn her B.S.N., M.S.N., and Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Florida (UF), where she then served as an assistant professor of nursing and pediatrics and as director of UF pediatric diabetes clinic operations and director of the outpatient pediatric diabetes education program.

While in academic medicine, Dr. Albanese-O’Neill maintained an active research portfolio and clinical practice. Her research on diabetes education, quality improvement, and diabetes technology has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Diabetes Care, The Lancet, Pediatric Diabetes, and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics. Albanese-O’Neill has been a passionate diabetes advocate since 2002, and in this capacity has provided testimony at congressional hearings, the White House, and in the Florida legislature. She is a co-author on state, national, and international position statements on diabetes in the school setting aimed at reducing discrimination and improving care for students with diabetes. Albanese-O’Neill has received multiple national awards and was most recently recognized as the 2023 Diabetes Care and Education Specialist of the Year by ADCES.

She spends her free time with her family and friends and plans to retire as soon as a cure for T1D is discovered, but not a moment earlier.

Eugenia Araiza

Nutrióloga bilingüe, Especialista en Educación y Cuidado de la Diabetes, y Health Coach

Presentación Spanish Summit: "Del diagnóstico al empoderamiento: El papel de los padres en la diabetes tipo 1" 

Eugenia Araiza es una Nutrióloga bilingüe, Especialista en Educación y Cuidado de la Diabetes, y Health Coach certificada por la Junta de la American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Vvie con diabetes tipo 1 desde 1995. El recorrido personal de Eugenia impulsa su pasión por apoyar y empoderar a las personas con diabetes. En 2019, fundó Healthy Diabetes, un proyecto transformador que ofrece coaching, recursos educativos y apoyo para la comunidad que vive con diabetes.

La amplia experiencia de Eugenia abarca el trabajo con varios tipos de diabetes, enfocándose en la prevención, la educación y el cuidado integral. Es conferencista en eventos internacionales, dedicada a cambiar la percepción de la diabetes con un enfoque más humano. Su trabajo enfatiza la orientación nutricional, la educación sobre diabetes y la promoción de una conciencia holística.

Es autora de "Soy Diferente y me Gusta", que destaca la importancia de la aceptación al vivir con diabetes, y de "The Healthy Diabetes Journal", una herramienta diseñada para el manejo holístico de la glucosa. Su recetario "Sweet-N-Healthy" ofrece postres bajos en carbohidratos y sin azúcar, con un conteo preciso de carbohidratos.

Eugenia es coautora de "Había una vez una Diabetes", que aborda el agotamiento causado por la diabetes, y contribuyó al libro "Evaluación del Estado de Nutrición en el Ciclo de Vida Humano" de AMMFEN. Ha traducido al español literatura clave sobre diabetes, incluyendo "Think Like a Pancreas" de Gary Scheiner y "Rufus Comes Home" de Kim Gosselin, rompiendo barreras lingüísticas para la comunidad hispana/latina.

Sus esfuerzos colaborativos se extienden a organizaciones internacionales de diabetes, incluyendo JDRF, Beyond Type 1, la American Diabetes Association (ADA), la Federación Mexicana de Diabetes (FMD) y la Asociación Mexicana de Diabetes (AMD). También ha colaborado con universidades como la Universidad Iberoamericana, la Universidad de Guanajuato, la Universidad Cuauhtémoc y el Colegio de Nutriólogos de Guanajuato. Además, Eugenia forma parte del Consejo Asesor de Participantes (PAC) para Breakthrough T1D y es mentora en The Diabetes Link.

La misión de Eugenia es proporcionar una perspectiva compasiva sobre la diabetes, empoderando a quienes la padecen para llevar una vida plena.

Kim Fisher

Chair of Research, Breakthrough T1D Northern CA Board of Directors, Director of Programs at UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food Health

Presenting: Community Summit "Beyond Insulin: What Else Can be Added to Make T1D More Manageable?"

Kim’s passion is in working with scientific experts to together solve the world’s most pressing health issues. In addition to her role at IIFH, Kim serves as Chair of Research on the board of the Breakthrough T1D Northern California Chapter. She has also created several executive education programs at UC Berkeley and served on the board of the Haas School of Business. Prior to this, she ran several business incubators, founded and sold her own technology company, and did a three year stint in Lithuania with the Agency for International Development. Kim has a BS from Wharton and an MBA from UC Berkeley. As a leading female CEO, she has been featured in five books and has appeared on the cover of US News & World Report.

Dr. Larry Fisher

Ph.D., APBB, Professor Emeritus at UCSF

Presenting: Community Summit Adult Track "The Emotional Side of Living with T1D: An Interview with UCSF Psychologist, Dr. Larry Fisher"

Dr. Fisher’s primary research activity addresses the social, behavioral, self-management support and care system factors that affect the management of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes among adults through the Behavioral Diabetes Research Group in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at UCSF. In collaboration with a multidisciplinary group of medical, developmental, and methodological specialists in our program, Dr. Fisher has been studying how to address the emotional side of diabetes and its effect on quality of life and disease management. New projects test active clinical interventions to assess and reduce the distress associated with the emotional side of diabetes and to develop programs to help diabetes clinicians of all stripes assess and address the important and impactful aspect of life with diabetes in the real world of clinical care. He maintains an active clinical practice at the Diabetes Clinic in the Division of Endocrinology at UCSF.

Kathryn Gentile-Alvarez

MS, ACSM-CEP, EIM II, CPT, CSNC, CDCES

Presenting: "Differentiating and Optimizing Hybrid Closed Loop Systems"

Kathryn Gentile-Alvarez is a Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist and Exercise Physiologist. Her specialties include applying the latest technology (including open-source/DIY systems), sports performance, and counseling parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D), as well as adolescents and young adults.

Kathryn received her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology from Ave Maria University in Florida and a Master’s degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology from West Chester University in Pennsylvania.  She is Certified by the American College of Sports Medicine, as well as the International Sports Science Association. She is certified to train on most insulin pumps.

Kathryn was diagnosed with T1D at the age of twelve.  She managed her diabetes independently from the get-go, switching from multiple daily injections to pump therapy to a hybrid closed loop system. Along the way, she has studied the effects of various forms of exercise on glucose levels and enjoys developing basic and advanced exercise prescriptions for patients.

She and her husband Kenny live in Neptune Beach, FL with their dog Gravy and two cats Theo and Gunther. Kathryn most enjoys long walks with Gravy, bike rides, and weightlifting with Kenny.

Dr. Raquel López Díez

Ph.D., Científica, Departamento de Investigación, Breakthrough T1D

Presentación Spanish Summit: "Revolucionando el Tratamiento: Avances en la Investigación de la Diabetes Tipo 1"

Raquel López-Díez, Ph.D., trabaja como científica en el equipo de investigación de Breakthrough T1D y es la responsable del programa de Detección Temprana, el cual se enfoca en la identificación de la diabetes tipo 1 antes de la aparición de síntomas y la necesidad de tratamiento con insulina.

Con una demostrada experiencia en biología molecular y genética, obtuvo su licenciatura y su maestría en Biología Molecular y Celular en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Continuó sus estudios presentando una tesis doctoral en el Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), donde investigó la relación genética del Complejo Mayor de Histocompatibilidad (MHC/HLA en inglés) con enfermedades autoinmunes como la artritis reumatoide. Completó su investigación postdoctoral y trabajó como científica durante una década en el programa de investigación de la diabetes en el Hospital NYU Langone, investigando las causas genéticas de complicaciones de la diabetes.

En Breakthrough T1D, la Dra. López-Díez se enfoca en promover la investigación básica y clínica que apoya la detección temprana de la diabetes tipo 1, colaborando con laboratorios académicos e industriales para el desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías y apoyando avances regulatorios para su implementación y beneficio de la población.

En su tiempo libre, Raquel se esfuerza por crear igualdad de oportunidades para mujeres y minorías en STEM a través de asociaciones como ECUSA NY y The City Tutors (NY City College), y disfruta promoviendo la cultura y el baile latino.

Benny Madrigal

Atleta de cross-country y atletismo viviendo con diabetes desde el 2009

Presentación Spanish Summit: "Ganando maratones después del diagnostico. La historia de Benny Madrigal sobre las carreras y como no perderse después de su diagnostico."

A Benny Madrigal lo diagnosticaron con diabetes tipo 1 en el 2009. No sabía qué era la diabetes, solo conocía los conceptos erróneos. Benny viene de una familia numerosa con cinco hermanas, un hermano y una madre increíble.  Sabía que tenía que mantenerse fuerte porque las preocupaciones que se avecinaba serían abrumadoras para los demás. Como mexicano-estadounidense, sabía que el diagnóstico afectaría a todos. Cuando lo diagnosticaron, Benny era atleta de cross-country y atletismo en la universidad y recibió una beca completa. Estaba en forma y comía una dieta balanceada. Aprendió rápidamente que el ejercicio ayudaría con el control y que la información era tan valiosa como el oro. Después de obstáculos, algunos más obstáculos y otras barreras, continuó esforzándose para seguir haciendo lo que amaba. Desde el diagnóstico, Benny ha ganado 4 maratones, se ubicó entre los 3 primeros en más de 20 carreras de varias distancias y clasificó para el Maratón de Boston 6 veces. Sigue aprendiendo y desafía a otros a mantener la cabeza en alto y concentrarse en lo que está bajo su control y a ser pacientes con los altibajos. Actualmente está entrenando para el Maratón de Chicago y recientemente terminó en segundo lugar en el Maratón de Camarillo el 4 de agosto de 2024. Ama a sus hijos y a su familia.

JoAnne Robb

Psychotherapist and T1D Coach, and Founder of Sweet Talk Diabetes

Presenting: Community Summit "There’s Nothing Constant but Change: Supporting the Evolving Needs of your T1D Child"

Dr. Dessi Zaharieva

Instructor, Certified Exercise Physiologist (CEP), CDCES, Pediatric Endocrinology at Stanford University – School of Medicine, Breakthrough T1D Northern CA Board Member

Presenting: Community Summit "Strategies to Empower Individuals with T1D to Exercise with Confidence" and Teen Keynote "A Personal Journey of Type 1 Diabetes Through Research and Sport"

Dr. Dessi Zaharieva is an Instructor, Certified Exercise Physiologist (CEP), and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) currently working in Pediatric Endocrinology at Stanford University – School of Medicine. Her research focuses on strategies to manage blood glucose concentrations around exercise in youth and adults with type 1 diabetes. She is also a member of the Breakthrough T1D Northern California Chapter Board. She leads the 4T Exercise program that implements exercise education and monitors physical activity patterns in newly diagnosed youth with type 1 diabetes with support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Dr. Zaharieva has also been living with type 1 diabetes for over 25 years and is a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. She has represented Team Canada in taekwondo for many years and earned a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2013. Dr. Zaharieva has a passion for helping people like herself better manage their diabetes, especially with the challenges faced during exercise. Her research focuses on strategies to manage blood glucose concentrations around exercise in youth and adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). She leads the 4T Exercise program that implements exercise education and monitors physical activity patterns in newly diagnosed youth with type 1 diabetes with support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Dr. Zaharieva has a passion for helping people like herself better manage their diabetes, especially with the challenges faced during exercise.