UF faculty member to speak at White House event aimed at diabetes awareness

University of Florida College of Nursing assistant professor Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, Ph.D., ARNP, will be part of a speaker panel at the White House addressing diabetes as a part of the Making Health Care Better Series.

Albanese-O’Neill and the other panelists will speak at the White House at 2 p.m. today (April 7). Two speaker panels will examine the current state of diabetes prevention, research and treatment efforts. The event will be streamed live at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live. Albanese-O’Neill’s portion of the panel will begin at approximately 3 p.m. Along with Albanese-O’Neill, other members of the panel include representatives from the American Diabetes Association and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as NFL players.

“I am honored to be asked to speak on this panel that brings needed attention on a very important disease that affects so many Americans,” Albanese-O’Neill said. “Beyond searching for a cure, which is critical, we must search for ways to improve the quality of lives of people living with diabetes every day.”

Albanese-O’Neill’s advocacy efforts on behalf of people with diabetes have included participation in congressional briefings and press conferences at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Beyond her professional background, Albanese-O’Neill has a personal connection to Type I diabetes. Her daughter was diagnosed with the disease at 16 months old and since then she has become an active diabetes advocate, currently serving on multiple national boards and committees related to her research and clinical practice in Type 1 diabetes. She was inspired to study nursing after her daughter was diagnosed.

Albanese-O’Neill conducts research on the role of technology in Type 1 diabetes management, and her interests include smartphone and tablet technology interventions. She is currently researching the use of mHealth, or smartphone and tablet technology, to increase diabetes knowledge, reduce disease burden and improve quality of life outcomes for youth with Type 1 diabetes and their parent caregivers. Albanese-O’Neill holds a joint appointment in the University of Florida Diabetes Institute and collaborates with institute investigators on a number of projects.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year. In 2012, 29.1 million Americans had diabetes, and about 1.25 million American children and adults have Type 1 diabetes.

“As someone who has seen my child affected by diabetes, I commend the efforts to bring these topics to the table for the sake of millions of children and adults like her,” Albanese-O’Neill said.