MARK PEYROT is one of the leading psychosocial researchers of diabetes in the United States. He is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Social and Community Research at Loyola College. He is also on the research faculty in the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, and the American Diabetes Association, among others. He has served as chair of the Health, Health Policy and Health Services Division and the Community Research and Development Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and on the Council of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. In addition to consulting with educational and service delivery organizations, he does public speaking for audiences of service providers and educators. See more about Mark Peyrot.

MALIDOMA PATRICE SOMÉ is a medicine man of the Dagara tribe from Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Dagara are a people known for their spiritual practice and visionary ability. At age four, Malidoma was kidnapped by a Jesuit Missionary and placed in a boarding school. At age 20, he escaped to return to his tribe, only to realize that he needed to relearn the language and undergo a process of initiation in order to reconnect with his people. Bestowed with a name meaning, “One who befriends the stranger/enemy,” at age 22, Malidoma was asked by his elders to fulfill his destiny and become educated in the West (to bring greater understanding and acceptance of the Dagara culture). Malidoma has three master’s degrees and two doctorates from the Sorbonne and Brandeis University, and has taught at University of Michigan. He has authored the books Of Water and the Spirit and The Healing Wisdom of Africa. See more about Malidoma Patrice Somé.

CLAUDIA CHAUFAN is a medical doctor and sociologist who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 35 years. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Chaufan graduated from the University of Buenos Aires where she specialized in diabetes and obesity. In her home country, she worked as a clinician while writing about health for the Argentine media and co-authoring several books on nutrition-related topics. After moving to the United States, she coordinated a diabetes education program for the Latino community in San Jose, California. She went on to earn her doctorate in sociology with a parenthetical notation in philosophy at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she is currently a lecturer. Dr. Chaufan's research addresses the social, economic, and political aspects of the current diabetes epidemic.

DEVA KASNITZ is project director and co-founder of the Disability Studies Center through the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at University of California at Berkeley. Friend to Ed Roberts, founder of the independent living and disability rights movement, she spearheaded the establishment of and coordinates the Ed Roberts Postdoctoral Fellowship in Disability Studies at U.C. Berkeley. This program trains scholars to be leaders in disability studies and rehabilitation research and mentorship. Dr. Kasnitz is also a lecturer in disability studies at U.C. Berkeley. As part of the firm New Focus Partnerships, Deva consults for the World Institute on Disability, the Technical Assistance Center for Disabled Latinos, the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center–Rural, and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living. Dr. Kasnitz has Torsion Dystonia, a childhood-onset disability of movement and speech.

HAROLD STARKMAN is a pediatric endocrinologist who works as a clinician, researcher, lecturer, and video maker. He is director of the Diabetes Center for Children and Adolescents and an attending physician at the Goryeb Children's Center in Morristown, NJ. He has taught at several universities, including Harvard Medical School and Columbia University. Dr. Starkman is known for his educational films about diabetes for patients and families including: “The Child with Diabetes: A Guide for Caretakers,” “Staying in Balance, An Introduction to Type 1 Diabetes for Kids and Their Parents” (rated ‘highly recommended’ by American Association of Diabetes Educators), and “Diabetes, A Team Effort: Parents and Kids Talk About Their Feelings.” In 2005, he founded a website for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes entitled “Think Like A Pancreas.” Since 1986, Dr. Starkman has served on the Board of Directors for Camp Nejeda Foundation in New Jersey (a camp for children with diabetes) and is currently on the Advisory Board for the American Diabetes Association, New Jersey Chapter.