The American Diabetes Association® (ADA) will present the 2019 Harold Rifkin Award for Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes to Juliana C.N. Chan, MB, ChB, MD, FRCP. This award honors individual outstanding service in the cause of diabetes, performed with an international perspective and with international impact. Dr. Chan will be recognized with this honor at the National Scientific and Health Care Achievement Awards Presentation on Monday, June 10, during the ADA’s 79th Scientific Sessions, June 7-11, 2019, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

Dr. Chan is Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics and Founding Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Throughout her career, she has used research and professional education to inform practice and policies for the prevention and management of diabetes.

During her career spanning more than three decades, Dr. Chan has established large patient cohorts, biobanks and databases to define the causes and consequences of people with diabetes in Asia. She has systemically confirmed the benefits of a team-based, structured care approach to reducing clinical events and mortality in people with diabetes. She also developed the innovative, 11-country Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) program to gather data and issue personalized reports to empower individual patients and reduce clinical inertia.

“Congratulations to Dr. Chan for this well-deserved recognition and for her continued commitment to serving people with diabetes while championing research to improve outcomes,” said the ADA’s 2019 President of Health Care and Education Gretchen Youssef, MS, RD, CDE. “Her efforts to ensure progress in the fight against diabetes are admirable and has undoubtedly improved millions of lives in Asia and worldwide.”

With several productive international research collaborations, Dr. Chan has published more than 500 papers and 20 book chapters; trained hundreds of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows; and has established institutes, laboratories and diabetes centers to generate and translate evidence to practice through public-private partnerships.

The American Diabetes Association’s 79th Scientific Sessions, the world’s largest scientific meeting focused on diabetes research, prevention and care, will be held June 7-11, 2019, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. Nearly 15,000 leading physicians, scientists, health care professionals and industry representatives from around the world are expected to convene at the Scientific Sessions to unveil cutting-edge research, treatment recommendations and advances toward a cure for diabetes. During the five-day meeting, attendees will receive exclusive access to more than 850 presentations and 2,000 original research presentations, participate in provocative and engaging exchanges with leading diabetes experts, and can earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) or Continuing Education (CE) credits for educational sessions. The program is grouped into eight thematic areas: Acute and Chronic Complications; Behavioral Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, Education and Exercise; Clinical Diabetes/Therapeutics; Epidemiology/Genetics; Immunology/Transplantation; Insulin Action/Molecular Metabolism; Integrated Physiology/Obesity; and Islet Biology/Insulin Secretion. Gretchen Youssef, MS, RDN, CDE, President of Health Care and Education, will deliver her address, “It’s All about Access!,” on Saturday, June 8, and Louis H. Philipson, MD, PhD, FACP, President of Medicine and Science, will deliver his lecture, “Precision Medicine—Addressing the Many Faces of Diabetes,” on Sunday, June 9. Join the Scientific Sessions conversation on social media using #ADA2019.

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