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Board of Directors

Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board

Kenneth Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM, Rear Admiral, USPHS (Retired), Chairman of the Board of Children with Diabetes, is a retired Rear Admiral with the U.S. Public Health Service, who has twice been the Surgeon General of the United States. After a 37 year career in public service in uniform, he was the Vice President of Global Strategic Affairs for Diabetes at Johnson & Johnson; and WorldWide Chairman of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institutes, a global network of educational facilities focused on providing health providers the knowledge, skills, and tools to help them better serve people with diabetes. He retired from Johnson and Johnson in 2013, and has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of First Samurai Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in health policy and programs, bridging the public and private sectors, “putting the patient at the center of everything we do.”

In addition to being the Chair of T-1 Today, doing business as Children with Diabetes, he serves as a member of the Board of the National Council of Asian and Pacific Islander Physicians, and is an Emeritus member of the Board of the Physician Assistant Foundation He has been a member of the board of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, the Diabetes Hands Foundation, the Physician Assistant Foundation, the National Kidney Foundation, the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation, and the American Dietetic Association, among several others. A recipient of twelve honorary degrees from academic institutions, he has served as a member of the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, America’s health university; and currently is a member of the Board of Governors of Chaminade University of Honolulu, and chairs the Dean’s Council for the George Washington University Milken School of Public Health.

Dr. Moritsugu has had type 1 diabetes (LADA) for 20 years, and has been closely associated with and supportive of Children with Diabetes for nearly two decades, in faculty and leadership roles. In November 2014, he was the JDRF’s Hope Gala Honoree in Washington, DC, and is the only Honorary Fellow of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. He and his family reside in Sarasota, Florida, and in Great Falls, Virginia.

Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, CWD Staff

Jeff Hitchcock is the founder, president, and Chief Executive Officer of Children with Diabetes. After earning a degree in computational mathematics in 1981, Jeff worked in high tech and traveled the world, meeting Brenda, who would become his wife, in Africa. In September of 1989, their first child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of two. Jeff worked in defense related industries until 1995, when he started a small internet company and launched Children with Diabetes to share his family’s experience caring for a child with T1D. Jeff also serves on the Board of Directors for the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition (DPAC). Jeff received the 2021 ISPAD Hero Award for his work on Children with Diabetes.

Board of Directors, Vice Chairman

Michael R. Swearingen is currently the Managing Director for Blackbriar LLC International Consulting. He is an international leader with over 30 years management experience at Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly and Company.

Mike has been a catalyst for passage of several state legislative measures including passage of a state licensure requirement for Diabetes Educators in the States of Kentucky and Indiana, and PA prescriptive authority in Indiana. He has worked with numerous companies, elected officials, government agencies, professional medical associations and academies to create major enduring initiatives such as, “Diabetes Awareness Days,” state and federal advocacy training workshops, national and international medical education conferences, and national sales and management meetings.

Mike has served on the national foundation boards for the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the American Association of Diabetes Educators Research and Education Foundation, and the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation. He is an honorary “PA” in the State of Indiana, and a recipient of the Diabetes Care Education (DCE) National Champion Award.

Currently he is on the board of directors for both T-1 Today Inc. (d/b/a Children with Diabetes), and the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition.

Board of Directors, Secretary

Joan Bardsley, MBA, RN, CDCES, FAADE, is the assistant vice president of nursing and research integration at MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI) and MedStar Health Corporate Nursing. She has over 40 years of experience in healthcare with a specialty in diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES). Ms. Bardsley has worked for MHRI for 25 years where her previous positions included responsibility for special projects and core scientific services. She is the MHRI representative to the MedStar Health Chief Nurses Council. She has served as co-investigator for the NIH supported inpatient diabetes education project as well as the AHRQ funded We Want to Know Project, which support the Interdisciplinary Model of Care (IMOC). At MedStar Health corporate nursing she is responsible as the executive liaison for administration of the Nursing Collaborative Governance Councils and has served as executive team liaison for a MedStar Wharton Nursing Leader of the Future. MS. Bardsley has published articles and book chapters on many aspects of DMSES and is an invited speaker both nationally and internationally on this topic. She holds an undergraduate degree in nursing from Boston College and a Master’s in Business Administration from The George Washington University. Ms. Bardsley is the past President of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, past chair of the Certification Board for Diabetes Care and Education (CBDCE), and Board member of Children with Diabetes. In addition, she is currently serves on several committees for ADCES, CBDCE, and the American Diabetes Association.

Board of Directors, DTeam, Faculty, Occasional Expert, Treasurer

George Huntley is a founding member of the Diabetes Leadership Council (501c3) and currently serves as CEO of both the DLC and its affiliate, the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition (501c4). He has been living with type 1 diabetes since 1983 and has three other family members also living with T1D. A passionate advocate for people with diabetes, George is a past National Chair of the Board of the American Diabetes Association and currently serves as Treasurer of Children with Diabetes. A former CPA, George spent his business career as CFO of Theoris Group, Inc., United Pentek, Inc. and MicroProse Games, Inc. In his corporate roles, he was the plan administrator of self-insured, employer-based health plans for more than 25 years. He learned firsthand the impact of chronic disease management on his company’s bottom line and the importance of strategic health plan design decisions to manage cost, reduce overall risk and improve health outcomes. George is also a highly rated and frequent speaker on the topic of health plan design and drug pricing.

Board of Directors

Sarah DeBauge, CFA, CTP, has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1989. She grew up in Kansas and earned her B.A. from Stanford University. She worked at several banks in investment management before being home with her boys, Henry and Tommy, for many years. Currently Sarah is a Vice-President at Government Scientific Source, Inc., a distributor of scientific equipment and supplies dedicated to serving federal, state, and local governments. She attended her first Friends for Life Orlando Conference in 2023 and found CWD’s offerings highly impressive. She is eager that other people with diabetes and their families learn about this organization much sooner in their diabetes journeys than she did.

Board of Directors, FFL Support Team

Cynthia M. Deitle, JD, LLM, is the Director, Associate General Counsel for the Civil Rights team at Facebook. Prior to joining Facebook in 2021, Deitle was the Director of Civil Rights at the Matthew Shepard Foundation, a LGBTQ+ advocacy non-profit organization for four years. Deitle served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1995 – 2017. During her career with the FBI, she focused her efforts on investigating violations of federal civil rights laws including police brutality and misconduct, hate crimes, and human trafficking. Ms. Deitle earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from The Ohio State University, her Juris Doctor degree from New England Law Boston, and a Master of Laws degree from both the George Washington University National Law Center and the New York University School of Law. She is an attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee, Florida, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia and is an Adjunct Professor at Roane State Community College in Harriman, TN. Ms. Deitle was featured in a 2011 episode of 60 Minutes dealing with an unsolved Civil Rights Cold Case, and she appeared in the first season of Investigation Discovery’s series, The Injustice Files. After her two year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2013, Ms. Deitle and her wife attended their first Children With Diabetes Friends for Life conference in Orlando. “The conference saved us. We found a community who embraced our family and not only gave us information about Type 1 diabetes and how to better manage the disease, but gave us the confidence that one day there will indeed be a cure. Until that day comes, we have Friends for Life.” Ms. Deitle joined the staff and faculty of FFL in 2017 to share her family’s journey and address the legal needs of young adults with type 1 diabetes. She joined the Board of Directors in January 2022. Deitle and her family live in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Board of Directors, DTeam, Physician

Lynda K. Fisher, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Associate Head, The Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, is the Treasurer of the International Society for Adolescent and Pediatric Diabetes. She has served on the Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association as well as many ADA national committees and task forces (especially those focused on youth and advocacy). She has been very active in advocacy for children with diabetes on the local, state, national and international arenas. She spends time each summer as a medical director at diabetes camps in California.

Board of Directors

Melissa Geren was diagnosed with diabetes in 1995. She went to her first Friends for Life Orlando Conference in 2003 and has been attending Friends for Life conferences ever since. Melissa is mom to Maddax (born December 2021), wife to Zach and has three siblings, Sarah, Kayla, and Matthew (diagnosed at age two). Currently, Melissa works for Unilever Water and Air Wellness on the Blueair (Air Purification) brand on the Marketing Team. Aside from working with Tweens at Friends for Life Conferences each year, Melissa is currently a board member for Children with Diabetes.

Board of Directors, DTeam, Physician

George Grunberger, MD, FACP, MACE, is the chairman of Grunberger Diabetes Institute in Bloomfield Hills, MI. He is a Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Medicine & Genetics at Wayne State University, Professor of Internal Medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and Visiting Professor at First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic). He is Past President of American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed manuscripts on subjects related to diabetes and its complications, molecular underpinning of insulin action and insulin resistance and clinical research studies on many aspects of diabetes and its management.

Board of Directors

Charles J. Macfarlane, FACHE, CAE, retired as the Chief Executive Officer for the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (ADCES) in 2021 after nine years in that position. Prior to that he served as the Executive Director of the Academy of General Dentistry. With more than 30 years of experience in health care and association management, Mr. Macfarlane’s career spanned several organizations including the Joint Commission Resources and the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a certified Association Executive. He is a graduate of Ithaca College and earned an MHA/MBA in Healthcare Management from Xavier University.

Board of Directors

David Price, MD, was Vice President of Medical Affairs at Dexcom until he retired in June 2022. His responsibilities included leading the strategy, design, and interpretation of clinical trials and usability studies, developing and executing publication strategies, supporting investigator-initiated studies, and providing medical input into product development and risk management processes. Dr. Price lead clinical discussions with regulators, advocacy groups, professional societies, and payers. He ideated and lead the DIAMOND and MOBILE studies that established the value of CGM in diverse insulin users. Dr. Price previously worked at LifeScan and was responsible for developing clinical decision support solutions and directing the clinical research program. Prior to his industry work, Dr. Price spent many years in clinical practice in Santa Rosa, CA, taking care of children and adults with diabetes. Dr. Price received his undergraduate baccalaureate degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his medical degree from the Ohio State University. He completed his internship and internal medicine residency at the Maine Medical Center and a clinical diabetes fellowship at the Joslin Diabetes Center.

Board of Directors

Kenny Rodenheiser, BSN, RN, CDCES, was diagnosed in April 2003 and has been part of the CWD family since 2004. He currently serves as a member of CWD’s Board of Directors and leads TeamCWD. After many years of volunteering with various diabetes organizations, he realized his passion was to educate, motivate, and advocate for all people with diabetes. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Ramapo College of New Jersey and shortly after earned his credentials as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist.

Board of Directors

Renza Scibilia has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1998. She is a diabetes advocate and activist, and is Director of Community Building and Communications in the Global Access Team at JDRF. She has worked for diabetes organisations for the last twenty-one, promoting a person-centred approach to the development, design and delivery of diabetes technologies, services, resources, research and education programs. Renza is also the Global Head of Advocacy for #dedoc°, a European-based profit for purpose organisation which provides opportunities for diabetes advocates from across the world to become part of a peer network and attend professional conferences under the banner #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs. Since August 2017, Renza has been wearing a DIYAPS, which automates insulin delivery, and she is part of the #WeAreNotWaiting movement. Renza has extensive experience as a consultant, facilitator, presenter, and media spokesperson and is frequently invited to speak at conferences where she speaks about topics including peer support in diabetes management, diabetes technology, why communication matters in diabetes and healthcare and how to reduce diabetes-related stigma and it’s impact. Renza is well-known in the diabetes online community, and is well-versed in social media, its use and impact on people with chronic health conditions and application in peer support. She is the author of Diabetogenic, and a regular contributor to many online and print health publications.

 Denotes board member with diabetes
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