American Diabetes Association Honors Pitt Diabetes Expert

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has selected Linda Siminerio, Ph.D., R.N., executive director of the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute (UPDI), as its 2007 Josiah K. Lilly Distinguished Service Award honoree. The award is given each year to an individual, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the lives of people with diabetes mellitus.

Dr. Siminerio has been a major contributor to the understanding of diabetes self-management and education. She was the first woman editor of Diabetes Forecast magazine and has authored several books on diabetes. In addition to leading numerous research projects and publishing both scientific and patient articles, she has been a powerful advocate for diabetes education worldwide.

She is the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Action Plan for Diabetes and previously served as president of Health Care and Education for the American Diabetes Association and the senior vice president of the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF). She has been appointed as the chair of the 2009 IDF World Diabetes Congress. Her many honors include the ADA awards for Outstanding Contributions to Diabetes in Youth and for Distinguished International Service to the Cause of Diabetes.

Dr. Siminerio received the award at the 18th annual J.K. Lilly Distinguished Service Award Gala on Saturday, Nov. 3 in Indianapolis. The winner was selected by the Josiah Kirby Lilly, Sr., Distinguished Service Award Committee of the ADA in Indiana, Pa.

About the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute

The mission of UPDI, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is to provide and support diabetes prevention, detection, education, treatment and research. UPDI unites experts in endocrinology, patient and physician education, epidemiology, clinical care, health economics, behavioral science and rural medicine. One of the country’s few programs focusing on the translation of diabetes research into practice, UPDI is dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art treatments to everyone with diabetes and to those at risk. For more information, visit the UPDI Web site at http://diabetesinstitute.upmc.com.