Endocrine Society
October 16, 2008 

Society member Francine Kaufman, M.D., started her three-year term as chair of the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) on October 1, 2008. Dr. Kaufman succeeds Lawrence Blonde, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E., another Endocrine Society member, who chaired the program from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2008.  Dr. Kaufman has served on NDEP's advisory committee since 2000, the year The Endocrine Society joined NDEP's Steering Committee.

Dr. Kaufman, former president of the American Diabetes Association, has been a member of The Endocrine Society since 1986. Throughout her membership she has been involved with numerous Endocrine Society committees and initiatives including the Media Advisory Committee and the Society's Obesity Alliance.  She also served as one of the authors of the Prevention and Treatment of Pediatric Obesity: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline Based on Expert Opinion.

As chair of NDEP, Dr. Kaufman is charged with maintaining NDEP's mission to improve the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, promote early diagnosis, and prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. Since its establishment in 1997, NDEP has become a dominate resource in the fight to reduce illness and death caused by diabetes and its complications. NDEP has produced hundreds of tip sheets, brochures, and campaigns for health care professionals, people at risk for type 2 diabetes, people with diabetes, and diabetes caregivers. Under Dr. Blonde's chairmanship, NDEP worked to define and establish A1C as a measure of glucose control and started an initiative to introduce the additional measure of estimated average glucose into standard diabetes care.

In 2001, The Endocrine Society worked closely with NDEP on one of its biggest projects, the development of the BetterDiabetesCare website (http://www.betterdiabetescare.nih.gov). This site was designed to educate health care professionals about the need for systems changes and ways to implement them.  The Society's collaboration with NDEP on the BetterDiabetesCare program is described in the April 3, 2008 issue of Endocrine Insider. The Society and its dedicated members will continue to work with NDEP to improve diabetes care. 

For more information on NDEP, go to: http://ndep.nih.gov/.