Reports of children and adolescents with Type 2 Diabetes continue to expand at an alarming rate, with the 2007 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicating that Puerto Rico suffers from the highest incidence (12.8 cases for every 1,000 persons) of this devastating disease. Given this harsh reality, the Universidad Del Este, located in Carolina Puerto Rico, proposes to organize and host a groundbreaking Conference in November 2011entitled, """"""""Diabetes in Puerto Rican Children and Adolescents: Emerging Epidemic"""""""". The proposed event will fulfill an ever more present need to promote sustainable long-term awareness regarding child and adolescent diabetes among the scientific community, undergraduate and graduate students, health care providers, local elementary and secondary school teachers, coaches and directors, as well as the general public of Puerto Rico. The proposed Conference goal is to enhance and promote training and educational activities related to diabetes in children and adolescents among the scientific community, undergraduate and graduate students, health care providers, local San Juan and Carolina elementary and secondary school health teachers and directors, as well as the general public of Puerto Rico. This will be achieved through four specific aims: (1) Communicate and disseminate updated information about Type 1 (T1D) and Type 2 (T2D) diabetes in children and adolescents.(2) Communicate and disseminate available information regarding the magnitude of the problem of diabetes in children and adolescents in the USA and Puerto Rico.(3) Disseminate best and promising culturally sensitive preventive, early detection and therapeutic approaches of T1D and T2D in children and adolescents.(4) Identify education and research needs in T1D and T2D in children and adolescents in Puerto Rico. The proposed Conference will not only address state of the art topics, it will also engage a unique target audience comprised of leaders and students of the scientific, medical and healthcare communities as well as under-served and at- risk populations in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the event will feature first-rate, pioneering methodologies in the activities, presentations, focal groups and workshops included in the two- day program. At present, the Conference has confirmed the participation of six highly distinguished speakers in the field of diabetes, including: Dr. Francine Kaufman, Chief Medical Director at Medtronic, Inc. and renowned Professor of Pediatrics and Communications at the Keck School of Medicine and the Annenberg School of Communications of the University of Southern California (USC);Dr. Phil Zeitler, Pediatric Endocrinologist for the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Denver, Colorado;Dr. Enrique Caballero of the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University;Dr. Marino de Lesn, Director of the Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine at Loma Linda University;Dr. Guillermo Umpierrez of the Emory University School of Medicine;Dr. Lilliam Gonzalez Pijem of the University of Puerto Rico Medical School;and Dr. Otegbola Ojo, President and CEO of the Atlantis Healthcare Group Puerto Rico, Inc.: A Dialysis Service Provider. Information and knowledge presented at the Conference will be disseminated to the community at large through an exceedingly innovative variety of mediums and technologies as a means of garnering lasting support for an interest in diabetes research, while improving the way that key sectors of Puerto Rican society approach the illness.
The proposed Conference entitled, """"""""Diabetes in Children and Adolescents in Puerto Rico"""""""" will increase awareness about the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management among a diverse audience and key sectors of the Puerto Rican community. The Conference will target a broad, unique and integrated audience of educators, patients, healthcare providers, researchers, students, parents, guardians and private sector representatives within an under-served and high-risk population characterized by one of the highest rates of diabetes in the nation.
