Experts Available from Penn Nursing for American Diabetes Month

Newswise — Diabetes specialists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing are available to talk with media for stories on American Diabetes Month.

* Nutrition scientist Bart De Jonghe, PhD, focuses on obesity-related diabetes and development of Type II diabetes in adults and children.

* Terri Lipman, PhD, CRNP, professor of pediatric nursing, developed and maintains the only registry of pediatric Type 1 diabetes in Philadelphia. She is available to talk about diabetes in Latino and African American children and prevention of Type 2 diabetes through a healthy lifestyle. Her novel program “Dance for Health” is among the diabetes interventions that have brought national attention to her work.

* Biobehavioral scientist Nancy C. Tkacs, PhD, RN, conducts research on Type 1 diabetes, hypoglycemia unawareness, and how behaviors such as sleep interact with diabetes control. With support from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Dr. Tkacs is developing an animal model of Type 1 diabetes to determine why drops in blood sugar tend to occur at night, which creates a high risk of hypoglycemic shock or coma.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the premier research institutions in nursing, producing new knowledge in geriatrics, pediatrics, oncology, quality-of-life choices, and other areas. Penn Nursing researchers consistently receive more research funding from the National Institutes of Health than any other private nursing school, and many master’s programs are ranked first in the country. This year, faculty, students, alumni, and staff celebrate 125 years of nursing at Penn.