An Exciting New Era of Scientific Progress and Innovative Care for People with Diabetes Begins Under New Chief Scientific & Medical Officer, Dr. Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD - PRNewswire

Since 2014, Dr. Gabbay has served as the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Joslin Diabetes Center, and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. He oversaw the clinical care of over 25,000 people living with diabetes and focused on fostering innovation as well as the education and care programs Joslin delivers nationally, regionally and internationally. His research focused on innovative models of diabetes care to enhance diabetes outcomes and patients' experiences. To improve quality, he has traversed many arenas including better patient communication tools, creating the first broad scale diabetes registry, designing and implementing a care management training program, leading Pennsylvania's statewide implementation of the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and more. Dr. Gabbay has received funding from the National Institute of Health Diabetes, Digestive and Kidneys Diseases (NIDDK), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation for his care transformation work.

While at Joslin, Dr. Gabbay was dedicated to creating a model for the Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhood for Diabetes, a complement to his Patient Centered Medical Home research begun at Penn State. Dr. Gabbay has led one of the first and largest medical home pilots across 150 practices and 80,000 patients with diabetes in Pennsylvania. Dr. Gabbay's interventions include behavior change using motivational interviewing, self-management support, decision support, technology, population health, medical neighborhood, care management and digital health.

"Dr. Gabbay is an extraordinary physician executive and has always been a champion for people with diabetes, whether through research, education or care. We are grateful for his many contributions to Joslin and know that he will continue his work through ADA to benefit people with diabetes, and the organizations like Joslin that support them, for many years to come," said Roberta Herman, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Joslin Diabetes Center.

Dr. Gabbay completed his Bachelor's Degree at McGill University and his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Brooklyn School of Medicine with a residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell and fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at a joint Joslin-Beth Israel Deaconess-Brigham and Women's Hospital program. Dr. Gabbay was a visiting scientist at MIT and a Professor of Medicine at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.

The reach of his work has been recognized through leadership roles in national and international efforts to transform diabetes care, including chairing the Endocrine Society's Task Force for Innovative Models of Diabetes Care and leading the International Diabetes Federation BRIDGES program that implements evidence based translational research to low resource global settings to name a few.

"I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Gabbay to our team. He is a critical addition that brings incredible experience and expertise in scientific research and medical care. We share the same passion for improving the lives of all people living with diabetes, our continued quest to find a cure and the drive to accelerate change to have a tremendous impact on the world," said Tracey D. Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the ADA.

The ADA looks forward to Dr. Gabbay bringing his scientific expertise, physician experience, innovative ideas and thought leadership to the table as he helps to catapult our mission forward.

Click here for some thoughts from Dr. Gabbay.

About the American Diabetes Association
Every day more than 4,000 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes in America. More than 122 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes and are striving to manage their lives while living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic and help people living with diabetes thrive. For nearly 80 years the ADA has been driving discovery and research to treat, manage and prevent diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. We help people with diabetes thrive by fighting for their rights and developing programs, advocacy and education designed to improve their quality of life. Diabetes has brought us together. What we do next will make us Connected for Life. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Join the fight with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contact: Sabrena Pringle, 703-549-1500 ext. 1637
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SOURCE American Diabetes Association