Board of Directors
John L. Brooks, III, President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Brooks is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Joslin Diabetes Center. Joslin is the world’s leading diabetes research, clinical care and education organization. At Joslin, the world’s best researchers, clinicians and educators prevent, treat and strive to cure diabetes and its complications. Their discoveries improve the lives of people with diabetes worldwide and offer the greatest hope for a cure. Among the Harvard Medical School Affiliated institutions, Joslin is one of the most research-intensive academic medical centers and is unique in its sole focus on diabetes.
Mr. Brooks is a well-known life sciences executive. Mr. Brooks co-founded three life sciences companies including Insulet, which sells a novel tubeless insulin pump, which was inspired by his son, who has Type I diabetes. He had been a principal of Healthcare Capital Consulting LLC, which advised early-stage life sciences companies, and a founder of Prism VentureWorks, which raised more than $1.25 billion in capital.
Previously, he was a general manager at Pfizer/Valleylab, where he developed and executed a minimally invasive surgery and emerging businesses strategy. At Pfizer/Strato, he led the growth of a rapidly evolving vascular access medical device business.
A native of Massachusetts, he holds an M.S. in Business and a B.B.A. cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as well as a CPA.
Kim L. Kelly, Pharm. D., BCPS, FCCP, CPC, CEC
President, Kelly Diabetes Associates, LLC.
Dr. Kelly received his undergraduate degree in Pharmacy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, his Doctorate at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Kelly was formerly an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Medicine. His responsibilities there included; Director of the Metabolic Support Service at Truman Medical Center, President of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ACCP Research Institute, and Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Dr. Kelly is Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy by the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties.. He joined LifeScan in 1992, where his responsibilities included Director of Professional & Government Affairs, Director, Managed Health Care, and Director, Diabetes Programs. In April of 2007 he accepted a position as Director of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute for North America, and served in that position until March, 2009. Dr. Kelly’s research and experience includes a number of publications, participation on editorial boards and review panels of several journals, and various committees of professional organizations. He is currently President of Kelly Diabetes Associates, LLC a diabetes consulting firm whose activities center on developing diabetes health management and educational programs for health care providers and institutions to improve diabetes management. He is a Certified Professional Coder (AAPC) and a Certified Endocrine Coder (AACE). He also serves as faculty and educational programming staff for Children With Diabetes, and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association.
Claudia Graham, PhD, MPH
Vice President of Marketing
DexCom, Inc.
Claudia Graham is Vice President of Marketing for DexCom, Inc. Globally recognized as a thought leader in access to diabetes technologies, Claudia is responsible for all product development and commercial marketing activities within DexCom and is a key liaison with DexCom’s co-development partnerships. Prior to joining DexCom, she held multiple positions within Medtronic Diabetes including both Vice President of Global Therapy Access and Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at MiniMed, which was acquired by Medtronic in 2001. Earlier in her career, Claudia was a Director of Marketing for Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals, a division of Warner Lambert.
She received her PhD from the University of Southern California and her Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has served on various national and local boards serving the medical community including the national board of the former Medical Marketing Association of America, the board of directors for the Northridge Hospital Medical Center (Los Angeles) and both the San Diego and the Los Angeles chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She remains active in the diabetes community through public presentations and publications, was well as significant volunteer work.
Dr. Bruce Buckingham is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medecine., and received his medical degree from University of California at San Diego. He completed his internship, residency, and fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Dr. Buckingham is well known for his expertise in diabetes treatment and technology, and has written numerous publications and presented at meetings around the world. He is a member of the American Diabetes Association, currently serves on the Program Committee, and is Chair of the Council on Youth. He is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology.
Dr. Buckingham’s primary work focuses on diabetes research in children, particularly continuous glucose monitoring and immune intervention for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. He has been conducting clinical trials with various sensors for over 10 years. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator on two multicenter studies of continuous glucose monitoring in children. He also has two grants from JDRF to study algorithm development in creating a closed-loop artificial pancreas. Previously, he was Stanford’s PI for the Medtronic Minimed Star 1 trial of the Paradigm CGM system.
Jake Kushner, M.D. Chief of Service, Texas Children’s Diabetes and Endocrinology Center
Dr. Jake Kushner, a nationally renowned expert in type 1 diabetes research, is leading the efforts at the Texas Children’s Diabetes and Endocrinology Center. As the Chief of Service and Chief of the Section of Pediatric Diabetes and Endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine, he is a major thought leader in type 1 diabetes care and research. Dr. Kushner is also a McNair Scholar in type 1 diabetes research at the Baylor College of Medicine.
A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Kushner earned his medical doctorate from Albany Medical College in New York. He completed a residency in pediatrics at Brown University. He then completed a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, followed by a 5-year research fellowship with Dr. Morris White of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School.
Prior to arriving at the Baylor College of Medicine Dr. Kushner was at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes. Dr. Kushner has received prestigious national awards, including elected membership to the prestigious American Society of Clinical Investigation. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the March of Dimes, amongst other sources. His research is focused upon of the insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas. His clinical interests include the care of children with type 1 diabetes; cystic fibrosis related diabetes; and the treatment of children with hypoglycemia.
Officer Bryan Resnick is a U.S. Army Veteran, currently serving his community as a Police Officer in a suburb located 25 miles south of Boston. He is a graduate of The University of Massachusetts as well as Curry College, and holds his Master of Arts in Criminal Justice. Officer Resnick is currently assigned as a Tactical Operator and Sniper on a large 50 City Regional SWAT Team that covers approximately 600 square miles and stands ready 24/7 to protect over one million residences. Outside of SWAT, Officer Resnick’s duties are widely varied; from patrol, to firearms instruction.
In his personal time, Bryan is an avid traveler, amateur boxer, and community volunteer. His vast interaction with the community, and in particular with young men and women, helps him bring a fresh perspective to CDN from outside of the diabetes community. It is Officer Resnick’s goal to use his unique experience and community interaction, to help raise awareness and improve the quality of life for college students with diabetes.
Board of Advisors
Anna Floreen
As the Manager for Community Outreach at the T1D, Anna looks forward to providing the type I community with continual resources and ongoing connectivity for people affected by type I diabetes. In 2009 Anna created and implemented the first American Diabetes Association’s Youth Leader Program and oversaw all youth and family programs across New England for three years. She received her Masters in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009 and a bachelor of science in Psychology and Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University. She is also a Certified Product Trainer with Medtronic Diabetes and serves as a volunteer mentor with AYUDA (American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad) where she has traveled to both Belize and Bermuda assisting in the production of diabetes camps and programs. In addition, Anna has had type I diabetes for over 20 years and is still a very active volunteer alumnus with the Barton Center for Diabetes Education.
Emily Ewell is a chronic care consultant focusing on building global communities that support families, friends, and individuals affected by diabetes. Emily is currently pursuing a combined MBA/MPH from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley where she aims to pursue opportunities to drive public-private partnerships in global diabetes and chronic disease care. Emily currently serves on the Board of Managers and Young Alumni Council for the University of Virginia and Board of Directors for Project HOPE.
Prior to attending Haas, Emily worked as a strategy and operations consultant with Deloitte Consulting focused on growth and innovation, emerging markets, and broader wellness strategy projects across the spectrum of large healthcare organizations (including pharma, device, provider, payor, and non-profit client sectors). Emily’s pro-bono consulting in health led to a five-month externship with Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere), a US-based global healthcare relief organization. Working with headquarters leadership and in-country staff, Emily developed a worldwide diabetes program strategy through fieldwork and over 175 interviews globally in the Americas, Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
Emily earned an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering with a minor in engineering business from the University of Virginia. There she was selected as a Merck Science & Engineering Technology fellow where she worked in engineering manufacturing for Gardasil and R&D for pipeline biologics. Her research experience also includes basic science and pre-clinical research in neuro-endocrinology with the US Department of Defense. Emily’s personal interests include travel, photography, ballet, alternative medicine, and yoga & meditation.
Marissa Hitchcock was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 2 years old. She is a Registered Nurse with her Bachelors in Nursing from University of Cincinnati. In college she received the Spirit of the Community Award for her service to the diabetes community and the Michelle LaMendola Award for being a compassionate, well-rounded nurse. For a year she worked in outpatient pediatrics and had the opportunity to work with families with diabetes two days a week. She has 22 years of experience living with diabetes, has worked at diabetes camps as a counselor and camp nurse, helped run the childcare at a local support group for 2 years in Cincinnati, and works as a Teen Program Coordinator for Children with Diabetes. She has worked with the American Diabetes Association in creating a compilation article about the difficulties in the young adult population related to diabetes. Marissa’s passion is helping families living with diabetes. She currently works at Tampa General Hospital with the adult population and sees many patients with Type 2 and Type 1 diabetes in the acute care setting. She hopes to become a Certified Diabetes Educator and a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Shelley Yeager is the Director of Outreach & Development for the Diabetes Education and Camping Association, the networking and resource organization for over 400 diabetes camping programs worldwide. She works within the larger diabetes community to foster cooperative relationships that will enhance and expand programs serving youth, teens, young adults and families. She also serves as a faculty mentor for the International Diabetes Federations Global Young Leaders in Diabetes Program. Formerly, she served, for 18 years, as the Executive Director of the Barton Center for Diabetes Education in Massachusetts where she transitioned The Barton Center’s programs from a seasonal summer camp to a year-round educational organization serving over 1500 youth with diabetes and their families at unique, non-clinical programs in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. She has co-authored a number of diabetes manuals, served a co-investigator in many diabetes research studies and lectured extensively on diabetes and diabetes camp programs. Shelley is a Licensed Certified Social Worker and has 30 years experience in counseling children with diabetes and their families. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from St. Lawrence University in New York and her Master’s Degree in Social Services from Boston College.
Prapti Scherchan is currently enrolled in the MBA program at the Heller School of Social Policy, Brandeis University. Her focus is nonprofit management and she hopes to lead nonprofits to efficient and sustainable programming, and help figure out effective marketing techniques. Originally from Nepal, she used to live in Singapore prior to moving to the United States where worked as the Alumni Relations Manager for United World College of South East Asia. During her time there, she developed the social media presence for the department and managed alumni events globally. She has extensive experience in development of communication strategies to market programs, recruit, fundraise and engage supporter through social media applications and other communication mediums. She has prior experience with direct services, database management, volunteer management, and e-community management.
Her interests are travelling, design and layout, social media research and applications, international development, etc. As part of the Boston Net Impact Board Fellows program, Prapti is thrilled to be working with the CDN family to help the organization grow and move forward.
