Gina Koskosky

Tracey D. Brown, MBA, BChE, began as the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) chief executive officer (CEO) on June 1, 2018, just in time for the ADA’s 78th Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida, from June 22 to 26, 2018.

“I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes that became type 2 

 more than 14 years ago,” she said in a statement. “Since then, I have lived with the burden of managing this disease every hour of every day of every year. And, as I know all too well, diabetes affects the entire family, not just the person diagnosed with diabetes. In my personal life, I strive to be a living example of how to manage and thrive with this disease. I am succeeding because I have access to the right information, care, and support. I am ready to join the ADA in its fight to provide these same things to all people with diabetes.”

The ADA’s 78th Scientific Sessions will feature key research about the prevention and treatment of diabetes, and the association expects to welcome more than 16,000 attendees from around the world.

Brown will help lead the event, alongside William T. Cefalu, MD, the ADA’s chief scientific, medical, and mission officer.

"While proud of the important work we have done so far for individuals with diabetes, we are poised to do so much more and at an accelerated pace,” he said in a statement. “I welcome

Ms. Brown to the ADA, and I personally look forward to having her as a partner to increase the ADA's reach and expedite its impact. I am excited about the contributions she will be making to the ADA because of her understanding of digital platforms and consumer engagement, her broad business expertise, and her personal commitment to improving the lives of those with diabetes. I look forward to working together to bring meaningful change to the lives of people with diabetes."

Brown previously served as senior vice president of operations and chief experience officer at Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart, and has 25 years of business experience under her belt. She began her career as a chemical engineer for Proctor & Gamble and went on to receive an MBA from Columbia University in New York, New York.

Brown has been an advocate for the ADA in her own community through dedicated fundraising and volunteering, according to an ADA statement.

"Tracey lives with type 2 diabetes herself, so it was natural for us to ask Tracey to represent Sam's Club and be a candidate in the ADA's local fundraiser. She personally raised more than double what was raised by all of the candidates combined the previous year,” John Furner, president and CEO of Sam’s Club in Bentonville, Arkansas, said in a statement. “She not only smashed that record, she set a new national ADA benchmark as well. While we are certainly disappointed to see Tracey leave Sam's Club, we know she will do an awesome job at the ADA. We wish her all the best."

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Tracey D. Brown will welcome 16,000 attendees to the premier diabetes health care conference in her first month as chief executive of the American Diabetes Association. 

ADA's New CEO Takes Over in Time for 78th Scientific Sessions

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) will honor 4 leaders in advancing 

 care, education, and research as recipients of the Professional Interest Group Awards at its 78th Scientific Sessions at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from June 22 to 26, 2018.

"The recipients of this year's Professional Interest Group Awards, like the innovators who came before them, have significantly advanced our understanding of diabetes and have given us the tools to improve the lives of millions of people living with and affected by diabetes," the ADA's Chief Scientific, Medical, and Mission Officer William T. Cefalu, MD, said in a statement. "We congratulate each 1 of them and thank them for their exemplary work."

The Richard R. Rubin Award will be presented to Tim Wysocki, PhD, ABPP, the co-director of the Center for Health Care Delivery Science and Principle Research Scientist at Nemours Children’s Health System in Jacksonville, Florida. He will present the Richard R. Rubin Award Lecture, Diabetes and Behavior in the 21st Century: Things That Make You Go "Hmmm," on Saturday, June 23, 2018.

Edgar J. Peters, MD, PhD, will receive the Roger Pecoraro Award. He is the director of the infectious diseases fellowship program and the head of the outpatient department of internal medicine at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Peters will present the Roger Pecoraro Award Lecture: The Ghosts of Diabetic Foot Infection: Past, Present, and Yet to Come on Saturday, June 23, 2018.

The Norbert Freinkel Award is being given to Linda (Lynn) A. Barbour, MD, MSPH, FACP, who is a professor of endocrinology, metabolism, and diabetes and maternal fetal medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. She is also the medical director of the obstetrics diabetes and high-risk clinics at University Hospital in Aurora. Barbour will present the Norbert Freinkel Award Lecture, Metabolic Culprits in Obese Pregnancies and Gestational Diabetes: Big Babies, Big Twists, Big Picture on Saturday, June 23, 2018.

Finally, Alessandro Doria, MD, PhD, MPH, will receive the Edwin Bierman Award. He is the associate director of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and the senior investigator in the section on genetics and epidemiology and co-director of the molecular phenotyping and genotyping core at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Doria’s will present the Edwin Bierman Award Lecture, Leveraging Genetics to Improve Cardiovascular Health in Diabetes on Monday, June 25, 2018.

The ADA expects upwards of 16,000 professionals from around the world to attend Scientific Sessions and more than 3000 original research presentations on diabetes prevention and treatment. The 5-day event will be the largest scientific meeting that focuses on diabetes research in the world. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the award winners and other leading health care professionals in diabetes research and potentially earn continuing-education or continuing-medical-education credits.

More than 30 million adults and children in the United States live with diabetes, and a new patient is diagnosed every 21 seconds, according to the ADA.

The ADA strives to combat diabetes by raising awareness about the disease and educating both health care providers and patients about proper prevention and treatment.

The American Diabetes Association at its 78th Scientific Sessions will recognize 4 physicians who have worked to advance diabetes research and improve patient health outcomes.  
 