ADA names Dr. Eric Johnson Primary Care Group chair

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has named Eric L. Johnson, MD, associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), its Primary Care Advisory Group chair for a three-year term starting January 2018. In this role, Johnson will lead the association’s efforts to develop effective strategies to engage primary care providers, Dr. Johnson recently completed a three-year term as the group’s vice-chair. More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, and an additional 86 million American adults have what is considered “prediabetes.” Primary care providers such as Dr. Johnson treat 90 percent of patients with diabetes. For this reason, Johnson’s work with the Primary Care Advisory Group has focused on accelerating outreach to primary care providers through several initiatives, including the national one-day Diabetes Is Primary program at the ADA’s scientific sessions. Dr. Johnson (right) and his colleagues recently developed the association’s abridged version of the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. This important document packages the ADA’s annual guidelines into a manageable article for busy primary care providers. Furthermore, he both has been involved in the publication of several articles in professional journals that feature key guidelines from the Standards, and has been appointed to the editorial board of the ADA journal Clinical Diabetes. “Diabetes presents a huge burden to patients, providers, and health care systems,” noted Dr. Johnson, who will help oversee several key initiatives in 2018, including the expansion of the Diabetes Is Primary program to other markets. “Getting the right information into the hands of primary care providers can improve the quality of diabetes management and patients’ quality of life.” Dr. Johnson is the director of the SMHS Interprofessional Education Program and medical director of the School’s Physician Assistant Studies Program. He is also assistant medical director for the Altru Health System Diabetes Center, president of the American Diabetes Association North Dakota Affiliate, and president of Tobacco Free North Dakota. # # # Brian James Schill Assistant Director, Office of Alumni and Community Relations University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences 701.777.2733 direct | 701.777.4305 office brian.schill@med.und.edu | www.med.und.ed