Board of Directors

Umesh Verma is chief executive officer of BLUE LANCE, Inc., a leading developer of cybersecurity governance, assurance, audit, and compliance automation software. He is the founder of Cyber Houston and the Houston Cyber Summit. A national leader in emerging technologies, Verma serves on the Boards of The Center for Houston's Future, University of Houston College of Technology, and the Greater Houston HealthConnect. Verma is passionate about helping improve the lives of people with diabetes and serves on the executive committee of the Houston Diabetes Resource Center. Verma has served the American Diabetes Association as chair of the Houston Community Leadership Board, Chair of the Finance Committee, and as the 2017 secretary/treasurer for the national board of directors.

Tracey D. Brown is Chief Executive Officer of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the nation’s largest voluntary health organization and a global authority on diabetes.

Tracey joined the ADA in June 2018 after her tenure as senior vice president of operations and chief experience officer at Sam's Club, a division of Walmart, Inc., where she was responsible for creating meaningful member experiences, directing member strategy, marketing and branding, go-to-market execution, data and analytics and membership operations. 

Tracey brings more than 25 years of experience in driving global business growth, leveraging data to connect consumers with brands and creating omni-channel experiences to escalate customer loyalty. Prior to joining Sam’s Club, Tracey was chief executive officer and managing director of RAPP Dallas, a data-driven integrated marketing agency. Before RAPP, she served as chief operating officer for direct marketing agency Direct Impact, where she coordinated strategic, tactical and overall company operations.

Previously, Tracey was director of worldwide consumer marketing for Advanced Micro Devices, where she drove global marketing and demand generation activity around the world, including China, India, Russia, France, Spain, Italy and Japan. Early in her career, she served in leadership positions at American Express, Proctor & Gamble and Exxon Mobil.

Tracey earned a master of business administration degree from Columbia Business School in New York and a bachelor of chemical engineering degree from the University of Delaware. 

Tracey, who lives with type 2 diabetes, recently served as a volunteer and fundraiser for the ADA in her local community. She joined the ADA’s National Board of Directors in January 2018, before transitioning to her new role as CEO. She and her family resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. 

Robert Eckel is a distinguished Alumnus of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Professor of Medicine Emeritus with appointments in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes and Division of Cardiology, and former Charles A. Boettcher II Endowed Chair in Atherosclerosis at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus. He also was a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. In addition, he served as President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and President of the American Heart Association.

Mary de Groot, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Acting Director of the Diabetes Translational Research Center at Indiana University. She received her Master of Education degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education in 1989 and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 1999. Dr. de Groot is a clinical health psychologist whose research focuses on examining the mechanisms that link diabetes and depression as well as the development of accessible interventions to treat depression among adults and socioeconomically and culturally diverse populations with diabetes. Since 2017, Dr. de Groot is a member of the American Diabetes Association

Martha Parry Clark is a retired CEO with global executive experience that spans the asset management, health non-profit, banking, and strategy consulting industries. For the American Diabetes Association, Clark serves as Chair of the Finance Committee, and served previously as interim Chief Executive Officer, and as Chair of the Community Leadership Board for the San Francisco Bay Area. She also serves as Co-Chair of Project Redwood, a non-profit that provides grants and advisory services to early-stage social entrepreneurs focusing on extreme poverty.

As President of Terminals for Kinder Morgan, Inc., Mr. Schlosser oversees the largest independent network of liquids and bulk terminals in North America. Kinder Morgan's terminals have approximately 88 million barrels of liquids capacity and handle about 100 million tons of bulk materials annually. The liquids terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and the bulk facilities store and handle coal, petroleum coke and other materials. Additionally, the Terminals business owns Jones Act product tankers that are engaged in the marine transportation of crude oil, condensate and refined products in the United States.  Kinder Morgan Terminals generates approximately $20B in annual revenue and $1.2B in annual EBITDA.

Mr. Schlosser holds a Bachelor of Science degree in science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He is a past chairman and member of the Houston Chapter’s American Diabetes Association. He also serves on the board of directors for the Greater Houston Port Bureau and on the board of the Kinder Morgan Foundation. Mr. Schlosser has two children, Elizabeth and Clay.

C. Ronald Kahn is an internationally known diabetes researcher whose focus is understanding the mechanism of insulin action and the insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes and obesity. He currently serves as Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School; and Chief Academic Officer and Head, Section of Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, at the Joslin Diabetes Center. From 1981 until 2000, Kahn was the Research Director of Joslin and from 2000 to 2007 served as President. Under his leadership, Joslin research grew more than 20-fold, clinical and educational activity tripled, and new corporate alliances were launched. He has held memberships on many national commissions and committees, including the Research Policy and Finance Committees of the ADA and chairing the congressionally mandated Diabetes Research Working Group, which developed the strategic plan for diabetes research in the United States. Dr. Kahn also was the Associate Review Editor of Diabetes Care from 1990-1992.

Cynthia E. Muñoz, PhD, MPH, is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (the University of Southern California) in Los Angeles, where she provides clinical care to children, youth and families with diabetes through the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (CEDM) Embedded Psychology Program and the CHLA Behavioral Health Center. A licensed psychologist who is bilingual and serves patients in both English and Spanish, Dr. Muñoz co-developed a psychoeducational and skills-based program, TEEN POWER, for adolescents with insulin-treated diabetes, their siblings and their caregivers. TEEN POWER is now offered through the CHLA Behavioral Health Center and the CEDM and targets a diverse population, including adolescents in the foster care system.

Christopher K. Ralston, JD, is a partner and deputy practice coordinator in the New Orleans litigation practice at Phelps Dunbar LLP. Mr. Ralston handles a range of commercial litigation and focuses in the areas of antitrust law, business torts, trade secret litigation and contract disputes, tax litigation, securities litigation and arbitration, direct selling and intellectual property litigation. He also serves as a part of the firm’s appellate practice. Mr. Ralston’s work in the legal field has received recognition in numerous forms: in 2009, he received the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Friend of Pro Bono Award; in 2012, he was named to the New Orleans City Business Hall of Fame; and in 2016, he received both the Federal Bar Association’s New Orleans Chapter President’s Award and the Louisiana State Bar Association’s President’s Award. After recognizing the devastating impact of diabetes in New Orleans, Mr. Ralston joined the ADA’s New Orleans Community Leadership Board (CLB) in 2009, and he has served as Chair of the CLB since 2014.

Robert M. Cuddihy is the vice president, US Medical Affairs, at AMGEN. He has close to two decades of practice experience as a clinical diabetologist at the Mayo Clinic, Harvard & MGH, International Diabetes Center (IDC), and the University of Minnesota. He was actively engaged in diabetes research as an investigator on numerous diabetes-related clinic trials including the DCCT-EDIC and ACCORD trials. A frequent speaker on diabetes-related topics at numerous national and global medical congresses and educator of physicians throughout the world on the treatment of diabetes through the World Health Organization he has dedicated his life to educating and advocating for individuals living with diabetes. Dr. Cuddihy has participated in many American Diabetes Association Expo's in Minneapolis and served as Chair of the New York City ADA Diabetes Expo, as well as other programs outside ADA, such as Taking Care of Your Diabetes (TCOYD).

Sherita Hill Golden, MD, MHS, joined the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Board of Directors in 2018. Dr. Golden is the Hugh P. McCormick Family Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. A clinical endocrinologist cross-trained as a diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemiologist, Dr. Golden has devoted her career to studying endocrine risk factors for diabetes and CVD, with a focus on improving the care and outcomes for patients through academic excellence and healthcare delivery. She holds joint appointments in the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and in the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Dr. Golden is also Director of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Inpatient Glucose Management Program. The author of more than 150 articles, 12 book chapters and 4 monographs, Dr. Golden’s research seeks to understand the risk factors that connect diabetes and CVD; examine the mental health complications of diabetes and the biological, hormonal and behavioral factors that explain these associations; eliminate health disparities in diabetes; and implement and evaluate systemic interventions to improve patient safety and quality of care in hospitalized patients with diabetes.

Amparo Gonzalez is the Head Global for the LifeScan Diabetes Institute. In her role, Amparo has strategic oversight for all initiatives related to diabetes professional education activities globally, including the direction of the Institute.

Prior to joining LifeScan in 2012, Amparo was affiliated with Emory University School of Medicine as the Program Director of Multicultural Diabetes Education and Professional Diabetes Education where she designed and implemented diabetes education programs for HCP’s and for PWD, in Spanish and English, with a variety of models that address different practice needs. By partnering with sites, the programs administered self-management education to Latino, low socio-economic English-speaking white, black and African-American patients. HCP programs included programs to train diabetes educators and medical assistant training in diabetes.

She served as the President of the American Association of Diabetes Educators in 2008 and held several volunteer leadership positions within the organization.  Gonzalez has published in peer-reviewed journals on the topic of diabetes in vulnerable populations. She is a national and internationally recognized speaker in the subject of diabetes education. Amparo obtained her nursing degree in Colombia and her Master of Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. She is a fellow of the American Association of Diabetes Educators since 2009.

Otis W. Kirksey currently serves as the Director of Pharmacy Services for Neighborhood Medical Center in Tallahassee, FL. He brings 25 years of experience in academia as a former Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Prior to his faculty appointment he was a clinical pharmacist in Research and Information Services at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. He served more than 11 years on the board of Neighborhood Medical Center and is currently the director of the Prince Hall Shriners' National Diabetes Initiative. In this role, he has led the organization's effort to fulfill its 10-year, $1 million-dollar commitment to the American Diabetes Association, to support research and outreach efforts in underserved communities, particularly African American and Hispanic.

Jean O’Connor has spent the past nearly 20 years in public health practice and policy at the state and federal levels. She also is an adjunct faculty member at the Rollins School of Public Health and the University of Georgia, and she is a past-president of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. Jean is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Julio Rosenstock is director of the Dallas Diabetes Research Center at Medical City and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center located in Dallas. Rosenstock has been the author or co-author of more than 516 publications, including 278 peer-reviewed manuscripts and numerous abstracts. He has also contributed to 13 clinics and book chapters on several topics in the field of diabetes. Rosenstock is currently associate editor of Diabetes Care, an editorial board member of Practical Diabetology and Cardiovascular Diabetology and is an active reviewer for several journals. Rosenstock has chaired or been a featured speaker at multiple lectures and presentations both nationally and internationally.

Stephanie Silverman founded and leads Venn Strategies, the Washington, D.C.-based policy and public affairs firm named twice to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies.

A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA 1992) and Duke University (BA 1986), Silverman’s current practice focuses on designing and executing public affairs, thought leadership and policy-driving programs for national health advocacy organizations, industry leaders, Fortune 100 businesses and mid-cap companies.  Her work incorporates multi-dimensional tactical programs, from political advocacy to policy analysis, from brand-building to coalition-orchestration, all designed to give her clients a seat with impact at the national policy table. 

Glen Tullman is Executive Chairman and Founder of Livongo and is passionately committed to finding a cure for diabetes and other chronic conditions and keeping people healthy until we do. A visionary leader and entrepreneur, he previously ran two public companies that changed the way healthcare is delivered. Tullman is also a co-founder and partner in 7wireVentures, a early stage investment firm focused on healthcare He is the author of On Our Terms: Empowering the New Health Consumer, which proposes new solutions to address the chronic-condition epidemic facing our country.

Gretchen Youssef is program director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute, MedStar Health Youssef has volunteered with the ADA since 1992, serving as vice president of the Montgomery, Maryland chapter in 1994, Chair of the Education Recognition Committee from 2008 to 2009, a member of the Professional Practice Committee from 2010 to 2012, and a member of the national Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012 and in 2019. Youssef served as ADA President of Health Care & Education in 2019.