Dr. Albright has served as Chief of the California Diabetes Program since 1994 and built the California Diabetes Program into one of the top five performing diabetes programs in the country. She received a Medal of Honor for her work as the Senior Policy Fellow in the Office of the Surgeon General during 2003-04. She was also awarded the 2004 National Woman of Valor from the American Diabetes Association. She received her doctoral degree in Exercise Physiology from the Ohio State University and completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship in nutrition at UC Davis and a clinical internship in nutrition at UCSF. Dr. Albright has an academic appointment with the University of California, San Francisco.

Though she will be sorely missed in California by her staff and hundreds of statewide and community partners, we know that the Division of Diabetes Translation will profit greatly from her leadership. In turn, all state-based diabetes programs throughout the nation will benefit from her broad knowledge and ability to clearly articulate diabetes issues in science, research, public policy, health care delivery systems, quality of care, and community interventions. Dr. Albright is passionate about making a difference for all people with and at risk for diabetes.

Dr. Albright begins her work at CDC in early 2007. Recruitment for Chief of the California Diabetes Program will begin shortly. The position will be posted on www.caldiabetes.org.

Scroll down for an Overview of the Division of Diabetes Translation.

If you would like to send a congratulatory note to Ann, please follow the directions below.

1. Go to www.caldiabetes.org.
2. Click on Forum in the left menu bar.
3. To view messages, select Forum entitled "Congratulatory Messages for Ann Albright: CDC Director of Diabetes!" and the thread titled "Congratulations Ann!"
4. To add a message, log into the Forum using your Content Contributor account.
5. To sign up for a Content Contributor account, click Register from the left menu bar, and complete the brief form.
   • Click Process Registration - you should receive an email confirming your new account within 24 hours.
   • Once confirmed, follow steps 1-4 above.

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Overview of the Division of Diabetes Translation - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Division of Diabetes Translation (DDT) is a part of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The division has about 100 employees in Atlanta, Georgia, plus several public health advisors in the field.

CDC has had a diabetes division since 1977. In 1989, the name of the division was changed to Division of Diabetes Translation, meaning that the division translates science into daily practice. In our applied or "translation" research, we take information from clinical trials and incorporate it into clinical and public health practices.

The division does not support the direct provision of services, but facilitates the efficient, fair, and effective availability of these services to all Americans affected by diabetes. The division does not do laboratory research and does not routinely fund individual investigators.

Mission

To eliminate the preventable burden of diabetes through leadership, research, programs, and policies that translate science into practice.

We are guided by the following 10 Essential Public Health Services:

• Monitor health status to identify community health problems.
• Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
• Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.
• Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.
• Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
• Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
• Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
• Assure a competent public health and personal health care workforce.
• Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.
• Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.

Division Profile

The Division of Diabetes Translation's (DDT) goal is to reduce the burden of diabetes in the United States. The division works to achieve this goal by combining support for public health-oriented diabetes prevention and control programs (DPCPs) and translating diabetes research findings into widespread clinical and public health practice. The division's strategy has these major components:

• Define the diabetes burden—public health surveillance: The division continues to strengthen public health surveillance systems for diabetes. Mainly, DDT works with states using the diabetes-specific modules of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to develop a nationwide, state-based surveillance system. The division is also initiating diabetes surveillance systems within managed care organizations.
• Conduct applied translational research: The division conducts applied research that focuses on translating research findings into clinical and public health practice. This research identifies and details the public health implications of results from clinical trials and scientific studies and effectively and efficiently applies these findings in the health care system. Areas of research include (1) access to quality care for diabetes, especially within managed care organizations; (2) early detection of undiagnosed diabetes; (3) cost effectiveness of diabetes prevention and control activities; (4) effectiveness of health practices to address risk factors for diabetes; and (5) demonstration of primary prevention of type 2 diabetes.
• Develop state-based diabetes prevention and control programs (DPCPs): The division provides funding for state-based DPCPs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and eight U.S.-affiliated jurisdictions. Core capacity-building activities emphasize developing state health department expertise to plan, design, and coordinate diabetes control activities. Sixteen DPCPs receive expanded funding to establish comprehensive programs, so they can implement statewide, multilevel public health approaches to reduce the burden of diabetes. The primary goal of the state-based DPCPs is to improve access to affordable, high-quality diabetes care and services, with priority on reaching high-risk and disproportionately affected populations.
• Implement the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP): The NDEP is a joint initiative sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is based on a partnership of public and private organizations that are concerned about the health status of their constituents. The NDEP is designed to improve treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, to promote early diagnosis, and to prevent the onset of diabetes. Program activities are directed to these audiences: the general public; people with diabetes and their families; health care providers; and payers and purchasers of health care and policymakers.
• Coordinate media strategies and provide public information: The division has expanded its capacity to meet a rapidly growing demand for information about diabetes and CDC's programs. Through the following, we have increased public awareness about diabetes and provided technical assistance to our state partners: (1) national satellite media and marketing training for partners and a national satellite broadcast; (2) national diabetes/flu campaign; (3) public inquiries and publications request sytem that includes a toll-free telephone number ( 1-800-CDC-INFO
  1-888-232-6348 TTY ) that is answered in English and Spanish; and (4) Internet site (about 1,000 visits/day).