VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Yvette Roubideaux

Real Stories About Real People

Physician Advocates for American Indian and Alaska Native Communities  

Yvette Roubideaux, MD, MPH, is Chair of the American Diabetes Association’s Awakening the Spirit Project team.  She is passionate about funding for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians because she has seen both the devastating effects of diabetes on Indians and the hope brought by the prevention and treatment activities the program funds.

Dr. Roubideaux, an Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine at The University of Arizona, lives and works in Tucson, Arizona, as a physician focusing on research and education about diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Her passion for improving diabetes care among American Indians and Alaska Natives has led her to an additional role. As Co-Director of the Coordinating Center for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Competitive Demonstration Projects, Dr. Roubideaux helps lead the day-to-day coordination of this congressionally funded diabetes and heart disease prevention program in 66 American Indian/Alaska Native health sites around the country.  Dr. Roubideaux also teaches and conducts research on Indian health issues, with a focus on the quality of diabetes care for American Indians/Alaska Natives and Indian health policy.

Roubideaux has attended ADA’s Call to Congress and other major meetings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.  She has also served as a member of the Community Initiatives Committee since 2004. According to Denise Price Brown, Manager of Native American/African American Initiatives at ADA, “Dr. Roubideaux provides leadership and a voice for an under-represented group: American Indians and Alaska Natives. She speaks at briefings on Capitol Hill advocating for increased funding for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians. 

Diabetes has affected many of Roubideaux’s relatives. Having worked as a physician in the Indian Health Service in the 1990s, she saw firsthand the devastating effects of type 2 diabetes in the communities in which she served and the difference made by the Special Diabetes Program for Indians. According to Abby Bownas, Director of Federal Government Affairs at ADA, “Dr. Roubideaux is a wonderful leader and a superb advocate for the Special Diabetes Programs.  Her personal understanding of how diabetes affects the Native American community, coupled with first-hand experiences with the accomplishments of the program allow her to articulate on behalf of this community in a personal and insightful way - We are lucky to have her on our side.” 

Roubideaux said, “I enjoy volunteering for ADA because I know that our Awakening the Spirit Team’s efforts are helping in the fight against diabetes. I am grateful to the Association for recognizing the importance of supporting efforts to address the challenge of diabetes in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Our vision is a diabetes-free future, and I believe all our advocacy efforts are contributing to this goal. I hope that Congress will reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program for Indians so that all the progress we have made so far in the fight against diabetes can continue.”

Roubideaux received her MD from Harvard Medical School and her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.  She completed her Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She has worked on a number of national committees related to diabetes, including the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) and was appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Minority Health in 2000.

Send feedback to volunteerupdates@diabetes.org.