JDRF Illinois TypeOneNation Summit

Sean Busby

Riding On Insulin

Keynote Speaker

Riding On Insulin founder, Sean Busby, is a professional backcountry snowboarder with type 1 diabetes who travels the world exploring remote corners of the globe on snowboarding expeditions.

In 2004, while training for the 2010 Olympics, Sean endured a complicated diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Considering leaving snowboarding all together, Sean was inspired by reading stories he found through JDRF’s Children’s Congress. It was the stories of 5- 7- and 13-year-olds that inspired him to keep living his dreams despite living with diabetes. He founded Riding On Insulin—which is now a nonprofit organization—to honor all the kids who inspired him to keep living. Today, Sean runs Riding On Insulin as the Executive Director and makes appearances at the organization’s global action sports programs (including ski/snowboard camps) for kids, teens and adults living with T1D, while managing his personal backcountry snowboarding career. In February 2014, Sean became the first person with T1D to backcountry snowboard all seven continents. His expeditions include trips to Morocco, Antarctica (twice!), Patagonia, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Alaska, Tasmania, and more. Sean graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Health Promotion and Education, with an emphasis on diabetes.

Sean and his wife, Mollie live just outside Whitefish, Montana in a yurt with their two dogs, Daisy and Glacier. ​

Our thanks to Insulet for making Sean's appearance possible.

LeeAnna Anzaldi, RN, BSN

Saint Charles District 303

Taking T1D to School

LeeAnna Anzaldi is currently a School Nurse in the Saint Charles District 303. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and in Family Social Services. LeeAnna has been an RN since 2001 and has worked with families affected by diabetes in many facets. She worked in a Family Practice office at the start of her career as a Pediatric Nurse at Lutheran General Children’s Hospital and an ER nurse at Central DuPage Hospital. She is also the proud mother to a child with T1D.

Jessica Christensen

JDRF Advocate

Research Update/Closing Session

Since Valentine’s Day 2013, when her then 4 year old son, Jack, was diagnosed with T1D; Jessica Christensen has worked tirelessly to fundraise, advocate, and educate on behalf of T1D families everywhere. Jessica’s involvement in JDRF began shortly after Jack’s diagnosis when she and her husband, Scott, hosted a backyard benefit that raised over $60,000 for JDRF. In 2014, The Christensen Family had the honor of serving as JDRF Greater CT/Western MA’s Fund-a-Cure Family- an event that generated more than 1.3 million dollars for JDRF. After moving to WI in the fall of 2014, The Christensen Family joined the Western WI JDRF chapter. As part of the Western WI JDRF chapter, Jessica has served as a Research Information Volunteer, mentored newly diagnosed families, and advocated on behalf of individuals living with T1D.
The Christensen Family has supported JDRF in a variety of ways throughout the years. Her son, Jack, represented WI for JDRF’s 2015 Children’s Congress. In 2016, The Christensen Family became founding members of the T1D Fund. In addition, Jessica and her family have attended multiple mission summits, served on boards, participated in rides, volunteered at walks, and hosted a variety of events for JDRF.
Prior to her work with JDRF, Jessica developed an organic fiber maternity clothing and crib linen line while she was doing public relations for the organic and natural food products industry. Jessica’s background is in Communications. She earned a Master’s in Organizational and Interpersonal Communications from the University of Colorado- Boulder where she studied Social Support and a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Public Relations, and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she focused on corporate giving.

Currently, Jessica resides just outside Madison, WI with her husband, Scott, and their two children Kendall and Jack.

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.

Joseph Henske, MD

DuPage Medical Group

PEAK: Exercise and T1D

Joseph (Joe) Henske, MD, FACE, is a practicing clinical endocrinologist and the endocrine department chair at DuPage Medical Group, an independent physician-led multispecialty group of 700+ physicians located in suburban Chicago. A lifelong runner, he competed in NCAA Division III track and field and cross-country while completing his B.S. in Chemistry at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After graduating from medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, he completed his internal medicine residency at Northwestern University in 2007 and endocrinology fellowship at Vanderbilt University in 2010 before moving back to Chicago.

He continues to actively train and compete in distance running events, including 10 Chicago Marathons. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 15 and has made helping his patients manage type 1 diabetes and exercise a major focus of his clinical practice. He enjoys supporting the JDRF as part of the PEAK program as well as fundraising to support ongoing research. Outside of work, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife and 5 young children.

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

Kovler Diabetes Center

Off to College

Amy Hess Fischl is an advanced practice dietitian and coordinator for the University of Chicago Kovler Diabetes Center Teen Transition program, a unique diabetes program for adolescents and teens with diabetes.  She speaks internationally on all diabetes topics, especially children and teens with diabetes, insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors.  She is actively involved in the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as several international groups for diabetes and pre-diabetes.  She was named 2018 IL AADE Diabetes Educator of the Year and also received the 2018 Pan Arab Congress on Diabetes Award of Excellence for her contributions to diabetes care and education.

Tonja Horn, MSW, LCSW

TRH Counseling Services

Psychosocial Aspects of T1D for adults with T1D

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. Jasmin Searcy

La Rabida Children's Hospital

Teen Programming

Dr. Jasmin Searcy is a trained child, adolescent and pediatric health psychologist as well as a National Registered Health Service Psychologist. She earned both of her graduate degrees (Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy) in Clinical Psychology from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), and Jackson State University (Jackson, MS). As a Pediatric Health Psychologist at La Rabida Children's Hospital, she provides evidenced-based treatments (including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), pediatric hypnosis, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to patients presenting with general outpatient (e.g., depression), and pediatric health complications (e.g., diabetes) as part of inpatient and outpatient behavioral medicine services. Dr. Searcy has been working in the field of diabetes since 2010, and has had the privilege of working with individuals across the lifespan who are impacted by diabetes. She values coordinated multidisciplinary care that is culturally competent, and compassionate to diverse populations.

Dr. Searcy's interests and expertise include general child/adolescent mental health, pediatric health complications, obesity, weight management, pain management, and stress reduction. The focus of her
practice is the interactions between the mind and the body, and the powerful ways in which biological, psychological and social factors affect physical health and well-being. Dr. Searcy also holds faculty appointment at the Family Institute at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and is the founder of The SEARCY Initiative, Inc. (Seeking Equal Access for Rehabilitation Care in Youth; an NFP organization). Her ultimate research interests include health behavior change (i.e., predictors of success following diagnosis of pediatric health complications including ecological barriers that may interfere with treatment), and racial/ethnic disparities in children's health and healthcare.

Anita Swamy, MD

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

Take Action: T1D and Advocacy

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

Off to College

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.

Sarah Westen, Ph.D

University of Florida

Psychosocial Aspects of T1D for parents/caregivers

Dr. Sarah Westen is a Postdoctoral Associate and JDRF National Psychology Fellow in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florida. She completed her doctoral training and pediatric psychology internship at University of Florida following a two-year research fellowship in pediatric psychology at the NIH. Her research includes projects examining factors impacting adherence behaviors in youth with type 1 diabetes (e.g., diabetes-related distress, executive functioning, fear of hypoglycemia, and eating disordered behavior); the impact of sleep on adherence and glycemic control; perceived patient barriers to participation in clinical trials; depression screening in pediatric diabetes clinics; and, the feasibility of telehealth psychological interventions for adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Her research has been awarded multiple grants and recognitions, including the 2018 Society of Pediatric Psychology Drotar-Crawford Postdoctoral Fellowship Research Grant in Pediatric Psychology, 2015 Society of Pediatric Psychology Mary Jo Kupst Trainee Grant for Research in Resilience, and the University of Florida’s Geoffrey Clark-Ryan Memorial Award for Pediatric Research. Most recently, she has been awarded an NIDDK Loan Repayment Program grant to continue her work in diabetes psychology research. Clinically, she sees patients for intervention services in the UF Psychology Clinic and the multidisciplinary UF Pediatric Endocrinology Diabetes Clinic. Dr. Westen is passionate about teaching and supervises undergraduate students, psychology doctoral students, and doctoral interns in diabetes research, therapy, and consultation-liaison work. She is involved in several multi-site working groups regarding type 1 diabetes treatment in the context of interdisciplinary care; for example, she is a Board Member of the JDRF Psychosocial Advisory Committee, and Co-Chair of the American Psychological Association’s Special Interest Group in Diabetes.