Stephen Gitelman
Thanks to a generous gift made possible by a family whose lives have been affected by type 1 diabetes, the Mary B. Olney, M.D./KAK Chair in Pediatric Diabetes and Clinical Research has been awarded to Stephen Gitelman, MD, director of the UCSF Pediatric Diabetes Program.
Olney was a visionary UCSF physician who founded one of the first camps for diabetic children in 1938 and created the Diabetic Youth Foundation, an organization that continues today and operates Bearskin Meadow Camp.
Although Olney died in 1993, her legacy of "treating the whole child" continues to thrive today through Gitelman and his pediatric diabetes team.
Gitelman is an accomplished pediatric diabetologist and an international leader in type 1 diabetes clinical research. The Pediatric Diabetes Clinic provides care for more than 600 children and adolescents with diabetes, with five to 10 new patients added each month. His research interests include type 1 and type 2 diabetes, especially issues related to children and adolescents. Ongoing research studies include:
* Prevention of type 1 diabetes mellitus, including participation in National Institutes of Health-sponsored studies - such as TrialNet - to better understand the natural history of and to prevent type 1 diabetes, and the use of novel immunomodulatory agents - such as humanized anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody and anti-thymocyte globulin - at diagnosis to prolong endogenous insulin secretion (the honeymoon phase)
* Use of insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose sensors and other evolving technologies to optimize metabolic control for children with diabetes
* Improving outcomes for Latino youths with diabetes
* Prevention of type 2 diabetes in obese adolescents
* Post-transplantation diabetes in children
