Announcing the Johns Hopkins Diabetes Initiative

Dear Colleagues:
Today, we are pleased to announce the Johns Hopkins Diabetes Initiative. Because diabetes currently affects over 25 million Americans, this important project has the potential to have a huge impact on a large volume of patients.

Over the past year and a half a committee has been looking into how to bring together all of the diabetes efforts that are currently underway at Hopkins. The committee has examined what we do here and looked at what others are doing to determine how we move forward collaboratively to create consistent quality improvement for patients across Johns Hopkins Medicine. The Johns Hopkins Diabetes Initiative is the result of this committee’s efforts.

This very important area cuts across many different Johns Hopkins Medicine locations and clinical practice areas and will consolidate expertise from all the schools, hospitals, divisions and departments. While we have pockets of excellence in diabetes research, education and clinical care, the work is often done in silos that impede multi-disciplinary initiatives. The initiative aims to connect the research with our patient care and integrate teaching efforts with clinical care. We have areas that have greatly improved our patient education materials and this initiative will look at how to get the same information to diabetes patients at all of our geographic locations.

We’re happy to report that Fredric Wondisford has been chosen to lead the initiative. As a Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine and Physiology and Director of the Division of Metabolism, Fred has the knowledge of Hopkins needed to pull this multi-disciplinary initiative together. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Diabetes Research and Training Center, the only NIH-funded center in the Mid-Atlantic area. Started five years ago, the center was recently renewed by the NIH and there are many opportunities to leverage the center for work that can span across Hopkins. Fred came to Hopkins seven years ago from the University of Chicago where he also directed one of these NIH Centers.

Please join us in supporting Fred and the Diabetes Initiative as we work to improve the lives for our patients.
Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine