JDRF Illinois TypeOneNation Summit

Ryan Reed

NASCAR XFINITY Driver with Roush Fenway Racing

Keynote Presentation

Ryan Reed’s racing career began at a young age, capturing championship recognitions by eight years old. At the age of 17, he moved from Bakersfield, CA, to North Carolina to surround himself with the racing community.

In 2011, Ryan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and told that he would never race again. Instead of giving up, he sought guidance from a diabetes medical team who assured him that with hard work, he could continue to live out his dreams. He implemented lifestyle changes, including a nutritional plan, exercise and devices that provide on-track data to his medical team.

Today, Ryan has compiled an impressive list of racing accomplishments. In 2014, he became a full-time NASCAR XFINITY Driver with Roush Fenway Racing, boasting two wins, seven top 5 finishes and 27 top 10 finishes throughout his career. To date, he is the first and only NASCAR driver living with T1D to run a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. In addition to racing, Ryan is passionate about driving awareness and supporting the diabetes community through his foundation, “Ryan’s Mission.”

Dr. Sanjay Bansal

Loyola University Medical Center

Transitions/Off to College Panel

Dr. Sanjay Bansal is the Division Chief and Assistant Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at Loyola University Medical Center. He works with a great team of dedicated nurses and physicians who are passionate about taking care of children with type 1 diabetes, and providing them the best diabetes care possible. He teaches the next generation of students and physicians on how to care for children with diabetes. His research interests includes getting adolescents with diabetes ready for transition to adulthood.

Gloria E. Barrera, MSN, RN, PEL-CSN

DePaul University

School and T1D Panel

Gloria E. Barrera, MSN, RN, PEL-CSN is a public health nurse leader, specialized in school nursing. She currently works as a certified school nurse at a public high school outside of Chicago. Gloria is also an Adjunct Professor of Nursing at several universities, most notably DePaul University, and her alma mater Saint Xavier University. Her leadership, and service has been recognized by several organizations, both locally and nationally. She's served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses-Illinois Chapter since 2016, is taking office as President of the Illinois Association of School Nurses this October, and a proud member of ANA-Illinois, APHA, and an active member of ANHE. She's gained interest in policy and advocacy surrounding her passion, public health. She is committed to continuing her efforts to improve child health outcomes in our most vulnerable populations through her practice, teaching, and advocacy. Gloria is also the host of "Nurses that Wow!", a new podcast featuring nurses leading the way in all specialties, launching soon.

Patti Bellock

Advocacy: Health Policy Priorities Panel

Patti Bellock has dedicated her public service career to ensuring access to quality health care for Illinois’s most vulnerable population by making the state’s health care delivery systems more efficient and effective. Her extensive work on Medicaid reform in Illinois has been recognized by many national groups and news media, including the Wall Street Journal.

As a State Representative in the Illinois General Assembly for 20 years, Bellock developed a reputation for her bipartisan, collaborative work. She served as Deputy Minority leader in the House of Representatives as the first women in Illinois history to be appointed to this position. She also served as the Chief State Budget Negotiator for her caucus.

Her Landmark Legislation, the Smart Act reforming the Illinois Medicaid System, and bills regarding mental health parity, MRSA infection control, and the Amber Alert system, have earned her awards by over 30 major organizations. With a family business background, Bellock advocated on behalf of tax, business, and agricultural groups. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce recognized Bellock’s support of business issues by naming her a Champion of Free Enterprise.

In July of 2018, Bellock was appointed to Governor Rauner’s Cabinet as the Director of the Health Care and Family Services Agency. In her role as Director over 2,000 employees and a $23 billion budget, she continued to effectively lead efforts to improve the managed care system and shepherded approval of the federal Medicaid waiver for programs in mental health and substance abuse.

She has continued to serve on local, state, and national boards addressing issues regarding business, health care, violence prevention, and social services. Bellock served as the Midwest Director and Secretary of the National group, Women in Government in Washington, D.C. and the Co-chair of the Conference of Women Legislators in Springfield, Illinois. She and her family have resided in the Western suburbs of Chicago for over 40 years.

Liana K. Billings, MD, MMSc

NorthShore University HealthSystem — Skokie, Illinois

Adulting and T1D Panel

Liana K. Billings, MD, MMSc, is director of the Diabetes and Obesity Research Program and the Personalized Medicine in Diabetes Program at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Skokie, Illinois. She practices as an adult endocrinologist in the NorthShore Medical Group at NorthShore University HealthSystem, and is a clinical assistant professor in medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Dr. Billings is focused on designing and implementing studies that increase our understanding of diabetes, medication response, and comprehensive therapy. She conducts both investigator-led and industry-sponsored clinical trials in diabetes and obesity. One of her main research goals is to bridge the gap between translational research in genetics and the clinical application where clinical care decisions are impacted. She aims to identify patients with monogenic diabetes and examine how genetic variation influences response to anti-diabetes medications. She also conducts trials examining the safety and efficacy of new medications and devices or explores novel ways of using current therapeutic options in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. She has published in Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Lancet Diabetes, and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Dr. Billings received her medical degree from the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine in Chicago and her Masters in Clinical Investigation from the Harvard Medical School. She completed her Internal Medicine training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and finished a three-year fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Dr. Claudia Boucher-Berry

Assistant Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Illinois

School and T1D Panel

Claudia Boucher-Berry, MD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology. She is a member of the Pediatric Endocrine Society and the Endocrine Society. Dr. Boucher-Berry’s interest in endocrinology comes from experiencing multiple family members living with diabetes. Dr. Boucher-Berry has published articles and posters on multiple endocrine topics including diabetes, vitamin D Deficiency and obesity. Outside of medicine, she enjoys traveling and watching movies with her children.

Rosemary Briars, ND, PNP-BC, CDE

Co-Director of the Chicago Children’s Diabetes Center at La Rabida Children’s Hospital

School and T1D Panel

Rosemary Briars, ND, PNP-BC, CDE is the Co-Director of the Chicago Children’s Diabetes Center (CCDC) at La Rabida Children’s Hospital. She earned her BSN from the University of Illinois in 1985 and her Doctoral work was completed in 1991 at Rush University. In her current role, she provides diabetes specialty care to children and adolescents with type 1 and type 2 diabetes within the context of a very talented multispecialty team. Under her leadership, the program has grown to serving over 800 children with diabetes in the Chicagoland area and Northwest Indiana. As a passionate program leader, she developed and implemented numerous educational outreach programs for clinical personnel, children and their care givers. She led the initiative to obtain national education program recognition by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). As adjunct faculty she has given numerous lectures and serves as clinical preceptor for dozens of graduate nursing students. In addition to educating students, she has given numerous professional presentations. Her publications include journal articles and book chapters on topics related to the nursing care of children with diabetes.

Rep. Jim Durkin

Illinois House of Representatives

Take Action: T1D and Advocacy

With a focus on protecting and strengthening families and communities, Jim Durkin has spent his entire career working for the citizens of Illinois. He attended Illinois State University and earned a degree in Criminal Justice, and completed his formal education by receiving his Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School. Following his graduation from law school, Jim served as an Assistant Illinois Attorney General. Jim continued his public service as an assistant Cook County state’s attorney.

In January 1995, Jim became an Illinois State Representative in the 44th district. In 2002, Jim was the Republican nominee for United States Senate but was unsuccessful in his bid to defeat U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. In 2006, Jim was appointed to fill a vacancy in the 82nd House District and has successfully run for re-election. In August of 2013, Jim was unanimously selected by his Republican colleagues to fill the vacancy of House Republican Leader and was officially inaugurated by the full House of Representatives on October 22, 2013. Throughout his time in the Illinois General Assembly, Jim has worked tirelessly on many important issues including historic education funding reform and measures to reduce gun violence throughout Illinois.

Steven Glink

Attorney at Law

School and T1D Panel

Practices
School Law: defends the rights of staff, students and parents in all types of school cases including employment, student discipline, special education, zero-tolerance violations, residency and athletic eligibility.
Criminal / Juvenile Defense: Steven will aggressively defend you or your loved one against any criminal charge. In all cases, Steven will fight very hard for you to ensure that you receive all of the benefits of the law to which you are entitled.
DCFS Defense: represents parents/ caregivers against allegations of abuse and neglect.

Miscellaneous

• Guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show in October 1999
• Frequent Speaker on School Law/ Special Education issues
• Trial lawyer in Colquitt v. Rich Township School District # 227, where the Illinois Appellate Court ruled that students facing expulsion have the right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses
• Lead trial lawyer in State v. Purvis, criminal case in Bureau County, Illinois, where judge rendered a “not guilty” verdict for a teacher accused of sexual assault of her male high school student- one of the only such verdicts in the country.
• Guest on the Megyn Kelly show 2/9/18 after filing landmark federal lawsuit that secured an Illinois’ Student’s right to use medical marijuana in school.

Amy Hess-Fischl, MS, RD, LDN, BC-ADM, CDE

Kovler Diabetes Center

Advocacy: Health Policy Priorities Panel

Amy Hess-Fischl, MS, RD, LDN, BC-ADM, CDE is a program coordinator for the Teen and Adolescent Diabetes Transition Program at the University of Chicago’s Kovler Diabetes Center. She is also a certified diabetes educator, nutrition specialist, and certified insulin pump trainer.

Her professional activities include writing CE test items for the American Association of Diabetes Educators, reviewing submissions for the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and participating on the advisory boards of Nature’s Way, Dreamfields Pasta, and Jolly Time Popcorn.
She completed her undergraduate degree at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. While earning her Master of Science degree from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, WI, she researched the effect evening snacks have on blood sugars of patients with type 1 diabetes.

Tonja Horn, MSW, LCSW

TRH Counseling Services

Adulting and T1D Panel

Tonja Horn is the founder and therapist at TRH Counseling Services in Oak Park, IL, specializing in providing behavioral health therapy to those living with type 1 diabetes and their families. TRH Counseling Services focuses on addressing the psychosocial aspects of living with T1D through individual, family, and group therapy sessions. Tonja received her Master of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago, and has worked in the Chicagoland area throughout her career. Her passion for providing behavioral health therapy to Type 1 Diabetics grew from a lifetime of living with T1D herself. Tonja was diagnosed at age 8 and has combined her personal and professional experience to help others dealing with the challenges of managing T1D move toward living their best lives. Tonja is dedicated to supporting the T1D community through volunteer work promoting the importance of psychosocial care for T1D’s. For fun, she loves to hike, ski, play tennis, and participate in anything that keeps her active and outside. Tonja has cultivated her love of food and cooking to help manage her T1D and enjoys sharing her creations with family and friends.

Dr. Raghu Mirmira

University of Chicago

Research Update/Closing Session

Dr. Raghu Mirmira attended The University of Chicago and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Chemistry. He then entered the MD-PhD program (known as the Medical Scientist Training Program), also at The University of Chicago. During his PhD training, he worked under the mentorship of Dr. Howard Tager studying insulin-receptor interactions. His work during this time set the foundation for the development of ultra-rapid- and ultra-long-acting insulins that are widely in use today to treat all forms of diabetes. He received his PhD degree in 1991, followed by his MD degree in 1993. Raghu subsequently completed his residency in Internal Medicine and subspecialty training in Diabetes and Endocrinology at the University of California at San Francisco. During his subspecialty training, Raghu did his research in the laboratory of Dr. Michael German, where he studied the regulation of genes in the insulin-producing β cell. During this time, he held the prestigious Physician Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a JDRF Career Development Award, and later a Research Career Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Mirmira then joined the faculty at the University of Virginia in 2000, where he continued his studies on the regulation of genes in insulin producing cells. For his work, he received the prestigious Thomas R. Lee Career Development Award from the American Diabetes Association and was honored in Washington, DC in 2004 with the Discovery Channel Medical Honor, along with Surgeon General David Satcher.

Raghu moved to Indiana University in 2008 to assume directorship of the burgeoning Diabetes Center, where he subsequently built a nationally recognized program that earned NIH Center Funding in 2015. His research recently has been focusing on the roles of the β cell and the immune system in the development of type 1 diabetes. He has pioneered work that has shown that defects in the β cell may inherently initiate the autoimmune process in T1D, and that new therapies should begin to focus on how β cells should be targeted in T1D. He was recruited to the University of Chicago in 2019 to lead the Translational Research Center and build a group of translational researchers whose goal is to make fundamental discoveries that translate from the bench to the bedside. He is a dedicated researcher, clinician (still seeing patients with diabetes), teacher, and administrator. He is also has an NIH-funded research lab of 12 scientists. He has published over 130 scientific papers in prestigious journals and is an international thought leader in the field of diabetes. He is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation,

Charlotte Niznik, APN, CDE

Maternal Fetal Medicine Department at Northwestern Medicine

Adulting and T1D Panel

Charlotte Niznik is an advance practice registered nurse and certified diabetes educator. She specializes in women’s health and diabetes and pregnancy in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for the division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Northwestern Medicine. She is also involved with multiple research projects in caring for women with T1, T2 and gestational diabetes mellitus.

Lauren Plunkett, RDN LD CDE

Owner, LP Nutrition Consulting

Exercise and T1D: Put the wheels in motion!

Lauren is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, public speaker, fitness instructor, owner of LP Nutrition Consulting, and has lived with T1D for more than two decades. Her specialties are coaching and educating on healthy lifestyle for weight management, chronic disease support, T1D & sports performance, plant-based nutrition, and prevention with age.

Read more of her story and how to work with her at www.lpnutritionconsulting.com.

Jenna Shapiro, Ph.D.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Teen-only session

Jenna Shapiro, Ph.D., is a pediatric psychology postdoctoral fellow in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She is a recipient of the 2019-2020 National Diabetes Psychology Fellowship through JDRF. Dr. Shapiro completed her doctoral training at Loyola University Chicago and psychology internship/residency at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. Dr. Shapiro specializes in working with children with chronic health conditions, including youth with diabetes and their families. Her research on psychosocial and family adjustment to pediatric chronic illness, including diabetes, has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations. Dr. Shapiro has also received awards from the Society of Pediatric Psychology for her research on building resilience and improving wellbeing for children and adolescents with diabetes.

Anita Swamy, MD

Chicago Children’s Diabetes Center at La Rabida Children’s Hospital

Recent Updates in T1D Management (Pumps and Sensors)

Anita Swamy, MD, is an assistant professor in pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She also practices as a pediatric endocrinologist at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and is vice president of medical staff and medical director of the Chicago Children’s Diabetes Center at La Rabida Children’s Hospital. Dr. Swamy received her undergraduate degree (BS) from Tufts University and her medical degree (MD) from Drexel University College of Medicine, and she completed a pediatric residency at the University of Virginia. She completed her pediatric endocrinology fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Texas Health Science Center. Dr. Swamy founded and was director of the Pediatric Diabetes Program at Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Illinois.

She is a medical advisor for JDRF and also volunteers her time with the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes Training Camp, which is a camp focused on teaching people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes how to exercise safely and effectively.

She is passionate about diabetes education and technology and believes that education is the key to effective management.

She has won numerous awards for patient education and physician partnership.

Dr. Vidhya Viswanathan

Advocate Hope Children's Hospital

Advocacy: Health Policy Priorities Panel

Vidhya Viswanathan, MD is a pediatric endocrinologist at Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn, part of Advocate Health Care. Advocate is a nationally recognized health system devoted to providing quality patient care. The Oak Lawn facility delivers care to over 600 patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Viswanathan has been rated as a Vitals.com top 10 doctor. She is an active leader in advocating for proper diabetes management within school systems in the southern suburbs of Chicago. She also provides continuing medical education to pediatricians, family practitioners and physicians in training regarding inpatient and outpatient diabetes management.

Dr. Viswanathan completed a pediatric endocrinology fellowship and pediatric residency at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN, Indiana University School of Medicine. She also has a Master’s degree in clinical research from Indiana University.

Dr. Viswanathan is an avid Chicago sports fan and you can often find her at one of our local team’s sporting events.

Jill Weissberg-Benchell

Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine

Family Teamwork Across the Lifespan (for Parents/Caregivers)

Jill Weissberg-Benchell is a pediatric psychologist and a certified diabetes educator with over 25 years of research experience and clinical work with children, adolescents, and families with diabetes and their families.

Her academic appointment is as a Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She has published numerous research articles and offered workshops and lectures addressing issues such as improving self-management behaviors, family adaptation and coping, building adolescent resilience, the use of technology (CGM, Pumps and the Artificial Pancreas), and transitioning from pediatric to adult care. She is a co-author of two books, one that focuses on transitioning from pediatric to adult care, and another that focuses on working with adolescents with T1D.