About Us

 

MEET THE EDITORIAL TEAM

Rita R. Kalyani, MD, MHS, FACP

Jennifer E. Fairman, MA, MPS, CMI, FAMI

Alexis Thomas, BA

Angela Yang, BA

 

 

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RITA RASTOGI KALYANI, MD, MHS, FACP

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Rita Kalyani is a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism. She is an active clinician and sees patients in the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Diabetes Center. Dr. Kalyani’s research focuses on diabetes and its complications, particularly in high-risk populations. She is a past Chair of the American Diabetes Association’s Professional Practice Committee, responsible for the annual clinical guidelines position statement ADA Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. She is also a voting member of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Kalyani is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Johns Hopkins Diabetes POC-IT Guide for health care professionals. She is coauthor of two books for patients and their families, Diabetes Head to Toe: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, and Living With Diabetes (2018) and also Winning With Diabetes: Inspiring Stories from Athletes to Help You Thrive (2023), both published by Johns Hopkins University Press. She was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2017 and recipient of the Endocrine Society’s Laureate Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2022. Dr. Kalyani currently serves as President-elect of the American Diabetes Association for Medicine & Science (2024).

Why a Diabetes-focused Website?

“Diabetes is a chronic illness that relies heavily on the ability of the patient to self-manage their disease. The content on this website emphasizes the most important facts that we, as health care providers, would want any patient to know. The wide breadth of topics and easy accessibility of the content has the goal of empowering individuals with the critical knowledge they need to confidently self-manage their disease, while facilitating optimal management with their health care team, to live a long, healthy life with diabetes.”

Jennifer E. Fairman, MA MPS CMI FAMI

Creative Designer and Developer
Certified Medical Illustrator

Jeni holds a faculty appointment as an Associate Professor in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine where she previously received her Master of Arts in Medical and Biological Illustration. Her background includes experience in medical and scientific illustration for publication and patient education, 2D animation, web interactivity and graphic design. Jennifer is a professional member and served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Medical Illustrators. She served as a scientific illustrator and research associate in entomology for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. She is also a professional member of the GNSI, The Illustrators Club of Washington, DC, and has served for 4 terms as a Board Member and is currently an advisor to the Vesalius Trust. She has received numerous grants and awards for her work including Awards of Merit and Excellence from the AMI, a Smithsonian Women’s Committee Grant, a James Smithson Society Fellowship, and a Vesalius Trust Research Grant. Ms. Fairman is also the 1999 recipient of the Inez Demonet Award. She was recently inducted as a Fellow of the AMI and received it’s Outstanding Achievement Award.

What is the vision of the website?

“Patient education is one of the hallmarks of the medical illustrator. This website will serve as a comprehensive educational guide to patients and their families looking to find a resource that can help give them understanding and comfort as they seek answers to their questions about diabetes.”

Alexis Thomas, BA

Manager

Alexis received her BA in Psychology and Minor in Business Administration from St. John’s University in Queens, New York. Afterwards she completed a Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program at the University of Maryland College Park. She first started at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2015 when she joined a research team in the Division of General Internal Medicine studying substance use disorders in the Baltimore community. In 2016, she moved to the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism where she currently is a Senior Research Coordinator. She has worked on several type 1 and type 2 diabetes clinical trials including some that have studied bariatric surgery’s effect on type 2 diabetes and pancreatic stem cell implantations in type 1 diabetes patients with hypoglycemia unawareness.

Why is this site needed?

“Nowadays in this new Information Age we live in, people look to the internet as a secondary source – and even sometimes a primary source – to seek information about an illness or disease, such as diabetes. This patient guide is a vital platform to provide accessible and dependable information from experts who have their best interest at heart to the millions of people worldwide that are suffering with diabetes.”

Angela Yang, BA

Editorial Assistant

Angela Yang studied violin performance at Peabody Conservatory before graduating from Johns Hopkins University with an undergraduate degree in public health, focusing on adolescent socio-medical studies. Angela joined a T1D pathology research lab at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where her investigations were on the mechanisms of anti-islet antibodies and x-monoclonal antibodies. She completed her summer research internship at the Joslin Diabetes Center to explore physiological mechanisms of SGLT-2 Inhibitor and CRISPR screening for beta cell protection. As a prospective medical student, she plans to devote her academic studies and career in the interdisciplinary field of public health, medicine, and law to comprehensively target widening gaps in health inequity.

 

Why is this website important?

“For those affected by diabetes, having access to online resources on diabetes self-management may ease the everyday anxiety and unrealistic expectations of keeping tight glycemic control. The evidenced-based information on the website encourages patients to actively implement and personalize tips and strategies based on their unique needs.”

Contributors

Thanks to all of our guest authors and content contributors to this website:

Experts 

    • Marissa Alert, PhD
    • Eugene Arnold, MS LD RD CDE
    • Roger S. Blumenthal, MD
    • Stanley Chen Cardenas, MD
    • Mark Corriere, MD
    • Alona Crowder, PharmD CDE
    • Roni Dinkes, AuD, CCC-A
    • Thomas Donner, MD
    • Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS
    • Meg Gerstenblith, MD
    • Adena Goldstein, RN BSN CDE
    • Asha Gullapalli, MS RD LDN CDE
    • Jonathan Jun, MD
    • Edward K. Kasper, MD
    • Daphne Knicely, MD
    • Benjamin Lalani
    • Gerard Limerick, MD, PhD
    • Nelson Maniscalco, DPM FACPM DABPM AACFAS
    • Nestoras Mathioudakis, MD, MHS
    • Christine McKinney, RD LDN CDE
    • Lisa Miller, DPM
    • Sananda Moctezuma Vega, MD
    • Caitlin Nass, MSN CRNP
    • Connie Qiu, MD
    • Elizabeth Ratchford, MD
    • Amy Rohrbaugh, BA MS (President & Founder, The Frannie Foundation)
    • Sharon Solomon, MD
    • Maureen Seel, RDN/LDN CDE
    • Raghav Tripathi, MD
    • Kimberly Vaughn, CRNP MSN
    • Risa Wolf, MD

Real People with Diabetes

    • Alan
    • Antonio
    • Carolyn
    • Derrell
    • Ellen
    • Jenn
    • Joanna
    • Joe L.
    • Joe T.
    • Kellie
    • Leon
    • Maggie

Past Team Members

Thomas Mitchell, BA

Manager, 2015-2023

SUDIPA SARKAR, MD MSCI

Managing Editor, 2019-2022

MOHAMMED E. AL-SOFIANI, MBBS MSC

Managing Editor, 2017-2019

Michael Quartuccio, MD

Managing Editor, 2015-2017

Samantha S. Ottone, AA

Administrator, 2015-2016

The Frannie Foundation

This website was made possible through the generous philanthropic support of the The Frannie Foundation, whose mission is to enhance the lives of individuals who have diabetes and other cardiovascular-related diseases. More information about this non-profit organization may be found at: www.thefranniefoundation.org.
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