Our Stories

The Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp 2023 will take place on September 9-24, and free registration is open through September 3!

Through the inaugural Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp in 2020, Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp 2020, Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp 2021, and Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 and 2022, the Diabetes Virtual Camp has completed 5 virtual internship programs for 1,843 students, including 972 underrepresented minorities, from 38 countries and 48 states in the United States including Puerto Rico. Our student interns represent diverse demographics: 447 high school students and 1,396 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, research and clinical fellows, scientists, and physicians representing over 400 colleges and institutions around the world. We are thankful to the 52 Experts as renowned scientists and physicians from reputable universities and research institutions for leading exciting and informative Zoom sessions on diabetes research and therapeutics, and we appreciate their efforts, commitment, and support of the Diabetes Virtual Camp. We are also grateful for the generous contributions of the participating interns, as we have raised over $15,000 that has been donated to the American Diabetes Association to support diabetes research, education, and care. The Diabetes Virtual Camp and the American Diabetes Association are working together to educate the next generation of physicians and scientists, leading the paths to improve diabetes research and care and find the cure for diabetes.

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 had 301 student interns, including 181 students of underrepresented minorities in medicine and science. Our students come from 24 countries around the world: U.S.A. (177), South Korea (30), Spain (23), China (18), Hong Kong (12), India (10), Turkey (8), Pakistan (5), Canada (3), Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Moldova, Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Singapore, and Tunisia. Our students also represent 32 states across the U.S.: Alabama (4), Arkansas (1), California (34), Connecticut (4), Florida (3), Georgia (7), Hawaii (3), Illinois (2), Indiana (5), Iowa (1), Lousiana (3), Maryland (7), Massachusetts (19), Michigan (2), Minnesota (3), Missouri (4), Mississippi (1), New Hampshire (5), New Jersey (13), New York (20), Nevada (1), North Carolina (1), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (2), Pennsylvania (3), Puerto Rico (1), Tennessee (3), Texas (15), Utah (1), Virginia (3), and Washington (3). Many of our students have type 1 or type 2 diabetes or families with diabetes. All of our students share a common goal of advancing their knowledge in diabetes and pursuing a career in medicine, research, and other health care fields. Our current program is participated by 43 high school students and 258 college/graduate/professional students and physicians/researchers/nurses, representing 126 institutions globally.

July 30, 2022

After 15 exciting sessions, the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 reached the Closing Session, where Lauren Kim and Allison Kim shared heartfelt closing remarks with the story of how Diabetes Virtual Camp began, all the hard work and dedication to organize the virtual programs, what has been accomplished over the past 2 years, and their commitments for future programs to support the next generations of physicians and scientists. On behalf of the Diabetes Virtual Camp, Lauren Kim and Allison Kim expressed wholehearted appreciation to our amazing student interns from all around the world for their steadfast interests and growing passion for diabetes, biomedical research, and medicine and for their generous contributions to support diabetes research, education, and care.

In all, our Diabetes Virtual Camp and the American Diabetes Association are working together to support exciting research and important education to inspire the next generations of physicians and scientists, sharing our mission to improve diabetes care and to find a cure for diabetes.

July 30, 2022

On this last day of Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022, our student interns participated in the finale Session 14 – “Preparing for Medical School and Scientific Career,” where Dr. Jason Kim (Professor of Molecular Medicine and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Director of the National Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center at UMass, and MD/PhD Admissions Committee) discussed how high school and college students can explore their interests in medicine and science and how college curriculum and extracurricular activities can be organized to prepare for medical school. He also shared his insights from serving on the medical school admissions committee for more than 20 years (at Yale, Penn State, and UMass) by presenting an overview of the medical school admissions process, application and interview process, a glance at clinical fellowship curriculum, and a day in the life of an academic professor engaged in research, teaching, and various committees for national and international organizations.

July 29, 2022

Our student interns of the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 were treated to 3 incredible and exciting sessions with world-renowned scientists. Today’s program began with Session 11 - “MAP Kinase Phosphatases in Energy Sending and Liver Disease” led by Dr. Anton Bennett (Dorys McConnell Duberg Professor of Pharmacology and Comparative Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, Director of Yale Center for Molecular and Systems Metabolism, and Director of Minority Affairs for Yale Graduate Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences). Dr. Bennett discussed the important role of protein tyrosine phosphatase, MKP1, in the pathogenesis of NASH and the homeostatic balance of the cellular stress-responsive system in the liver. He also shared how MKP1 may be a therapeutic target to treat metabolic liver disease.

July 29, 2022

Today’s program continued with Session 12 - “The Metabolic Syndrome in a Golgi Vesicle” by Dr. Jonathan Bogan (Associate Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology and Associate Section Chief for Research in the Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Yale University School of Medicine, Director of Cell Biology Core at Yale Diabetes Research Center, and Assistant Director for Education in the Yale MD/PhD Program). Dr. Bogan shared the exciting biology behind TUG in regulating glucose metabolism and the effects of its cleavage products on energy expenditure. He also shared the potential role of TUG cleavage products on thermogenesis and the thermic effect of food.

July 29, 2022

The finale of today’s exciting program was Session 13 - “Perturbing the Early Life Microbiome in a Model of Type 1 Diabetes” by Dr. Martin Blaser (Henry Rutgers Professor of the Human Microbiome, Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, and Director of Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University, and Chair of Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria), who has authored more than 600 original articles and a popular book named, Missing Microbes, which is now translated into 20 different languages. Dr. Blaser led a story-like presentation on the importance of maternal transfer of gut microbiome and the devastating effects of early-life exposure to antibiotics as a cause of losing gut microbial diversity and the increasing prevalence of many human diseases, including diabetes. He also shared the important responsibility of future generations of physicians and scientists to restore our gut microbial diversity and the possible use of microbial analysis in future pediatric care. Overall, we had an incredible scientific program highlighting MKP1 as a potential therapeutic target to treat NASH, TUG, and its cleavage products in preventing obesity and diabetes, and restoration of gut microbial diversity in improving human health.

July 27, 2022

Our student interns of the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 participated in more exciting and engaging sessions with world-renowned scientists. Today’s session began with Dr. Jason Kim’s Pre-Session Q&A period where he answered many outstanding questions from previous sessions. Session 9 - “Tactical Solutions to Circumnavigate Defects Underlying Diabetes” was led by Dr. Debbie Thurmond (Director of the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute and Ruth B. and Robert K. Lanman Chair in Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery Research Professor and Founding Chair of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology at City of Hope). Dr. Thurmond discussed the exciting biological role of STX4 as a SNARE protein with potential anti-aging properties by improving mitochondrial function and also improving insulin-secreting b-cell function in type 1 diabetes. She also shared an exciting new diagnostic biomarker for the early detection of b-cell loss and diabetes.

July 27, 2022

Today’s program continued with Session 10 - “Diabetes Complications: Evolving from a Glucocentric View” by Dr. Sudha Biddinger (Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston Children’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Molecular Metabolism at Harvard School of Public Health). Dr. Biddinger shared the exciting science behind FMO3 and TMAO, derived from gut microbial metabolites, as mediators of metabolic dysfunction, and certain foods, such as Brussels sprouts, contain an inhibitory enzyme (DIM) that may provide benefits in diabetes. She further discussed the important role of cholesterol absorption in maintaining cholesterol homeostasis and preventing diabetic macrovascular complications. Overall, we had stimulating scientific sessions highlighting the beneficial role of SNARE proteins and DIM-containing foods in human health and the important regulation of cholesterol homeostasis to prevent diabetic complications.

July 25, 2022

Our student interns of the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 participated in exciting and engaging sessions with world-renowned scientists. Today’s session began with Dr. Jason Kim’s Pre-Session Q&A period where he answered many outstanding questions from previous sessions. Session 7 - “Diabetes Research – from Bench to Bedside” was led by Dr. Anath Shalev (Nancy R. and Eugene C. Gwaltney Family Endowed Chair in Juvenile Diabetes Research Professor of Medicine and Director of Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine). Dr. Shalev shared exciting clinical study data showing the therapeutic potential of verapamil in treating type 1 diabetes and possibly type 2 diabetes through its unexpected immunomodulatory effects.

July 25, 2022

Today’s program continued with Session 8 - “Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: A Marriage Made in Clinic” by Dr. Jason Kim (Professor of Molecular Medicine and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Director of the National Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center at UMass, and MD/PhD Admissions Committee). Dr. Kim led an engaging presentation to discuss the cultural, socioeconomic, and evolutionary causes of the obesity epidemic and share his research findings on the molecular link between obesity-mediated inflammation and type 2 diabetes. He also discussed the epigenetic modification in imprinting during pregnancy by sharing recent data on the long-term effects of maternal high-fat intake on the metabolic health of offspring. Dr. Kim ended his presentation by inspiring the student interns to make the next new discoveries in type 2 diabetes. Overall, we had exciting scientific sessions highlighting the bench-to-bedside approach in translational research leading to an important discovery to treat type 1 diabetes and the complex relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes with inflammation playing a major role in molecular link.

July 22, 2022

Our student interns of the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 participated in exciting and engaging sessions with world-renowned scientists. Today’s session began with Dr. Jason Kim’s Pre-Session Q&A period where he answered many outstanding questions from previous sessions. Session 5 - “Clues to Causes and Treatments for Diabetes and Complications by Studying Special People” was led by Dr. George King (Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Joslin Diabetes Center and Thomas J. Beatson, Jr. Chair Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School). Dr. King shared impactful stories of the Joslin Medalist Study Program, recognizing people with type 1 diabetes with insulin dependence for over 50 years and studying them to identify an important role of retinol binding protein 3 as a protective factor against diabetic retinopathy.

July 22, 2022

Today’s program continued with Session 6 - “A Quest for Impact” by Dr. Robert Gabbay (Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the American Diabetes Association, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and past Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Joslin Diabetes Center). Dr. Gabbay led an interactive presentation that posed thoughtful questions and challenges surrounding diabetes care to our students and further shared inspiring stories of his winding path to an impactful career as a caring physician and passionate scientist, asking our students to pursue their dreams and goals. The experts kindly stayed to answer many bright questions from our students. Overall, we had exciting scientific sessions highlighting important clinical programs at the Joslin Diabetes Center that are identifying new treatments for diabetic complications and inspiring stories of leading a path to an impactful career in science and medicine.

July 20, 2022

Our student interns of the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 participated in exciting and engaging sessions with world-renowned scientists. Today’s session began with Dr. Jason Kim’s Pre-Session Q&A period where he answered many outstanding questions from his opening lecture on diabetes. The Session 3 - “Exercise as a Platform for the Discovery of New Therapeutics” was led by Dr. Bruce Spiegelman (Stanley J. Korsmeyer Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Director of Center for Metabolism and Chronic Disease at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), who offered insights into the important relationship between diabetes and neurodegenerative disease with irisin and exercise playing a beneficial role in brain health. This was followed by Session 4 - “Diabetes and the Heart” led by Dr. Ira Goldberg (Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr. Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the New York University School of Medicine), who shared an evolving story of diabetic heart disease and the important role of cholesterol and bad diet in atherosclerosis and macrovascular disease in diabetes. The experts kindly stayed to answer many astute questions from our students. Overall, we had exciting scientific sessions highlighting the beneficial role of irisin and exercise in brain health and the damaging effects of cholesterol and a bad diet on diabetic cardiovascular complications.

July 20, 2022

Today’s program continued with Session 4 - “Diabetes and the Heart” led by Dr. Ira Goldberg (Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr. Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the New York University School of Medicine), who shared an evolving story of diabetic heart disease and the important role of cholesterol and bad diet in atherosclerosis and macrovascular disease in diabetes. The experts kindly stayed to answer many astute questions from our students. Overall, we had exciting scientific sessions highlighting the beneficial role of irisin and exercise in brain health and the damaging effects of cholesterol and a bad diet on diabetic cardiovascular complications.

July 18, 2022

The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 celebrated its 2-year anniversary with today’s Session 1 - Opening Session where Lauren Kim (Founder, Director, and Webmaster) and Allison Kim (Associate Director and Outreach) welcomed 299 student interns from all around the world and shared our goals for the program. Our Expert Session kicked off with Session 2 - “Introduction to Diabetes,” where Dr. Jason Kim (Advisor and Professor of Molecular Medicine at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School) discussed the different types of diabetes with diagnostic criteria, characteristic features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, diabetic complications, the importance of glucose homeostasis with insulin action and secretion, and the major role of insulin resistance in the development of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kim also shared his insights on how to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes using lifestyle modifications (healthy diet and exercise) and different types of drugs currently in use to treat diabetes. The Opening Session ended with many bright questions from our students. We are excited to meet our student interns from all around the world to better understand diabetes and inspire our next generation of physicians and scientists.

July 16, 2022

Dear Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 (DVSC22) Interns,

Our virtual program will kick off on Monday (July 18) at 11 am (Eastern Time in the U.S.), with the Opening Session & Introduction to Diabetes (Sessions 1 & 2).
You are among 299 registered interns from around the world, including Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, and the USA (representing 32 U.S. states).
You are also joining 257 college/graduate/professional students, trainees, physicians, researchers, and nurse practitioners representing 125 universities and hospitals and 42 high school students for a global internship event. We also welcome 179 students of underrepresented minorities in the field of medicine and science to our program.
Over the next 2 weeks and 15 Zoom sessions, you will learn about exciting diabetes research and therapy and inspirational stories from leading scientists and clinicians from reputable institutions in the U.S.
Thanks to your generous contributions, we have raised more than $1,100 that will be donated to the American Diabetes Association. We will keep the donation site open throughout the summer camp, and please consider donating to support diabetes research, education, and care.

Important Program Information
All of our Zoom sessions will start at 11 am (Eastern Time or Boston Time in the U.S.), and please check your corresponding local time.
Please note that the July 25th (Monday) session will end at 12:40 pm, and there will now be 3 sessions on July 29th (Friday) that will begin at 10:20 am. Our Closing Sessions on July 30th (Saturday) will end at 12:30 pm.
You will receive an email containing the Zoom link with specific passcode 1 hour before the session start time, and you have 45 minutes to enter the Zoom session.  In other words, you will receive an email at 10 am (Eastern Time in the U.S.), and you have until 10:45 am (Eastern Time) to enter the Zoom session (except on July 29th).
You MUST login with the FIRST NAME and LAST NAME that were used in your registration, which will be required for your admittance from the Waiting Room and attendance check. Remember that we must have a record of your attendance in all sessions for you to receive a certificate at the end of our program.
At the start of the session, we will invite you to turn on your video, and during the session, we encourage you to ask questions using the chat box.
Please do NOT comment on other students’ questions, engage in a conversation, or make inappropriate comments, which will result in a removal from the Zoom session and the program.
At the end of the session, we will moderate the Post-Session Q/A Period for our Experts to address some of your questions.
During the hour preceding the day’s session (starting at 10 am), we will hold a Pre-Session Information Period for Dr. Kim to address any remaining questions from the previous sessions.
Mandatory Post-Session Tasks
Since this is a virtual internship program with active participation, there will be a Post-Session Task at the end of the day’s sessions. Your prompt and thoughtful completion of all Post-Session Tasks is required for you to receive a certificate following the program. At the end of each day’s session, we will announce a passcode for you to access the day’s Post-Session Task, and you must complete the Post-Session Task right away.

As always, follow us on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/diabetesvirtualcamp/) and check our website for up-to-date information and news.
We are excited to start the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 on Monday, and we are looking forward to meeting you soon, virtually!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 has 354 student interns including 200 students of underrepresented minorities in medicine and science. Our students come from 17 countries around the world: U.S.A. (250), Hong Kong (30), South Korea (28), Turkey (11), United Arab Emirates (7), India (6), Canada (5), Bangladesh (3), China (3), Qatar (3), Philippines (2), United Kingdom (2), China (2), Brazil (1), Malaysia (1), Mexico (1), Serbia (1), Brazil (1), and Spain (1). Our students also represent 29 states across the U.S.: Alabama (6), Arkansas (1), California (71), Connecticut (4), Florida (7), Georgia (2), Hawaii (1), Illinois (3), Indiana (3), Iowa (3), Lousiana (9), Maryland (7), Massachusetts (17), Michigan (8), Minnesota (4), Missouri (4), Nebraska (5), New Jersey (14), New York (25), North Carolina (2), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (2), Rhode Island (1), Tennessee (2), Texas (38), Virginia (5), Washington (2), West Virginia (1), and Wisconsin (1). Many of our students have type 1 diabetes and/or families with diabetes. All of our students share a common interest in advancing their knowledge in diabetes and pursuing a career in medicine, research, and other health care fields. We have 107 high school students and 247 college/graduate/professional students and physicians/researchers. Our interns represent 105 institutions globally.

August 13, 2021

After 12 exciting sessions, the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 reached the Closing Session that began with Lauren Kim and Allison Kim, on behalf of the Diabetes Virtual Camp, thanking our amazing student interns from all over the world for their steadfast interests and growing passion for diabetes, and for their generous contributions to support diabetes research, education, and care. This was followed by heartfelt closing remarks from Becky Barnett and Dr. Alicia Harper from the American Diabetes Association, sharing their personal stories of living with type 1 diabetes for more than 25 years and thanking our student interns for their support of the American Diabetes Association.

In all, our Diabetes Virtual Camp and the American Diabetes Association are working together to support exciting research and important education to inspire the next generation of physicians and scientists, sharing our mission to improve diabetes care and to find a cure for diabetes.

August 13, 2021

On this last day of Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021, our student interns were greeted to a special appearance by Ms. Tracey Brown (Chief Executive Officer, American Diabetes Association) whose passionate speech, sharing her own personal story of living with type 2 diabetes and her strong commitment to improving diabetes research and care, was most inspiring to our students. This was followed by yet another special appearance by Dr. Marlon Pragnell (Vice President of Research & Science, American Diabetes Association) who shared important information about various research programs, scientific conferences, clinical trials, and innovations that are supported by the American Diabetes Association.

August 13, 2021

The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 came to an end with spectacular finale sessions starting with Session 10 – “One Scientist’s Journey – Following My Heart and Listening to My Gut” which was led by Dr. Maureen Gannon (Professor of Medicine, Cell & Developmental Biology, and Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Associate Dean of Faculty Development, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine). Dr. Gannon began by sharing her personal story, one that is most humble, resilient, and triumphant, and has led her to become a successful leader in diabetes research. She then shared her exciting research on beta-cell regulation and novel strategies to enhance beta-cell survival in diabetes.

This was followed by Session 11 – “Preparing for Medical School and Scientific Career,” where Dr. Jason Kim (Professor of Molecular Medicine and Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, MD/PhD Admissions Committee, University of Massachusetts Medical School) discussed how high school and college students can explore their interests in medicine and science and how college curriculum and extracurricular activities can be organized to prepare for medical school. He also shared his insights from serving on the medical school admissions committee for more than 20 years (at Yale, Penn State, and UMass) by presenting an overview of the medical school admissions process, application and interview process, a glance at clinical fellowship curriculum, and a day in the life of an academic professor engaged in research, teaching, and various committees for national and international organizations.

August 12, 2021

A very special day for Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021! Our student interns were greeted by a very special guest, Dr. Maren Laughlin (Senior Advisor for Integrative Metabolism, National Institutes of Health) who led Session 8 – “NIH Support for Diabetes Researchers and People with Diabetes” where she introduced the critical role that National Institutes of Health play to support scientific advancement for improving human health. Dr. Laughlin further highlighted how the National Institutes of Health is responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic by increasing the research budget, provided an interesting overview of how research grants are funded to a community of biomedical scientists, and shared inclusive training opportunities for students at all academic levels by the National Institutes of Health. This was followed by Session 9 – “Islet Cells: At the Center Stage of Glucose Control and Diabetes Management,” led by Dr. Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi (Professor of Medicine and Chief of Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine) who shared exciting science behind islet cells that produce insulin and how they adapt during the progression of type 2 diabetes and research showing the important role of glucagon in diabetes.

August 11, 2021

The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 continued today with Session 7 – “Obesity & Type 2 Diabetes: Marriage Made in Clinic,” where Dr. Jason Kim (Professor of Molecular Medicine and Medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School) shared the historical perspective on the causal relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes and its evolving paradigms with new molecular mechanisms involving inflammation and cytokines. Dr. Kim further discussed his exciting research on targeting inflammation to treat insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and the clash between diabetes and COVID-19. In all, this session highlighted the important role of inflammation in obesity and type 2 diabetes, a topic most relevant to the current COVID-19 pandemic that is fueled by the high prevalence of obesity.

August 10, 2021

The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 continued with more blockbuster sessions today, starting with Session 5 – “Many Faces of Insulin and Diabetes” which was led by Dr. Gokhan Hotamisligil (Professor of Genetics and Metabolism at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) who began his presentation with an incredible story behind the discovery of insulin 100 years ago and shared his exciting research on the hormonal actions of fatty acid binding protein in metabolism and its role as a central mediator of metabolic disease. This was followed by Session 6 – “A Tiny Population of Neurons in the Hypothalamus Has Big Effects on Systemic Metabolism” by Dr. Malcolm Low (Professor of Physiology and Internal Medicine at University of Michigan Medical School) who presented fascinating biology behind neuronal regulation of feeding behavior involving pro-opiomelanocortin neurons and their role in leptin resistance and obesity. As always, our Experts kindly entertained many of our interns’ astute questions during the Question & Answer Period, moderated by Lauren and Allison Kim. It was indeed another day of exciting scientific sessions highlighting the important role of our adipose tissue and brain in regulating hormonal actions with disruption leading to obesity and metabolic disease.

August 9, 2021

Our student interns of Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 were treated to amazing presentations by two renowned scientists in the field of metabolism and exercise science. We began with Session 3 – “Fructose, Sucrose and Diabetes” which was led by Dr. Richard Lee (Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University) who shared an important historical perspective on the increasing dietary consumption of fructose, how fructose is metabolized in our body, and why sugar-containing beverages are bad for our health. This was followed by Session 4 – “Why Moms and Dads Should Exercise: New Discoveries of How Increased Physical Activity May Help Prevent Diabetes,” led by Dr. Laurie Goodyear (Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School) who discussed a dangerous trend of increasing maternal obesity and its detrimental effects on offspring health and the important beneficial role of parental exercise on the improved metabolic health of children. Our Experts were so kind to stay and answer a long list of outstanding questions from our students. In all, we had exciting scientific sessions highlighting the important role of diets and exercise in the prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

August 6, 2021

The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 celebrated its 1-year anniversary with today’s Session 1 - Opening Session where Lauren Kim (Founder, Director, and Webmaster) and Allison Kim (Associate Director and Outreach) welcomed 354 student interns from all around the world and shared our goals for the program. This was followed by Ms. Becky Barnnett welcoming our students on behalf of the American Diabetes Association. Our Expert Session kicked off with Session 2 - “Introduction to Diabetes,” where Dr. Jason Kim (Advisor and Professor of Molecular Medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School) discussed the different types of diabetes with diagnostic criteria, characteristic features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, diabetic complications, the importance of glucose homeostasis with insulin action and secretion, and the major role of insulin resistance in the development of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kim also shared his insights on how to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes using lifestyle modifications (healthy diet and exercise) and different types of drugs currently in use to treat diabetes. The Opening Session ended with many bright questions from our students. We are excited to meet our student interns from all across the world to better understand diabetes and inspire our next generation of physicians and scientists.

August 5, 2021

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 will kick off in less than 24 hours from now, Friday (Aug. 6th) at 11 am (Eastern Time in the U.S.), with the Opening Session & Introduction to Diabetes (Sessions 1 & 2).

You are among more than 350 registered interns from all around the world, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the USA (representing 29 U.S. states).

You are also joining more than 260 college/graduate/professional students & trainees representing 123 universities and hospitals and 90 high school students for a truly, global internship event as you’ll learn about exciting diabetes research and therapy from leading scientists and clinicians from highly reputable institutions in the U.S. We also welcome more than 200 students of underrepresented minorities in the field of medicine and science to our program.

Thanks to your generous contributions, we have raised more than $2,000 that will be donated to the American Diabetes Association. We will keep the donation site open throughout the summer camp, and please consider donating to support diabetes research, education, and care.

Important Program Information

All of our Zoom sessions will start at 11 am (Eastern Time or Boston Time in the U.S.), and please check your corresponding local time.

You will receive an email containing the Zoom link with specific passcode 1 hour before the session start time, and you have 45 minutes to enter the Zoom session. In other words, you will receive an email at 10 am (Eastern Time in the U.S.), and you have until 10:45 am (Eastern Time) to enter the Zoom session.

You MUST log in using the FIRST and LAST NAMES that were used for your registration, which will be required for your admittance from the Waiting Room and attendance check. Remember that we must have a record of your attendance in all sessions to receive a certificate at the end of our program.

At the start of the session, we will invite you to turn on your video, and during the session, we encourage you to ask questions using the chat feature.

Please do NOT reply or comment on other students’ questions as we will moderate the Post-Session Q/A Period following the presentation for our Experts who will address as many questions as possible.

During the hour preceding the day’s session, we may hold a Pre-Session Information Period for Dr. Kim to address some of the unanswered questions from the previous sessions.

Since this is a virtual internship program with active participation, there will be a Post-Session Task at the end of the day’s sessions, which will take just a few minutes for you to complete, and this is required for the program certificate. At the end of each day’s session, we will announce a passcode for you to access the day’s Post-Session Task, and you must complete the Post-Session Task right away.

As always, follow us on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/diabetesvirtualcamp/) and check our website for up-to-date information and news.

We are excited to start the Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 on Friday, and we are looking forward to meeting you soon, virtually!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim
https://www.diabetesvirtualcamp.org/

For interns from California (-3 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 7 am to 7:45 am (Pacific Time) on Friday morning as the session will start at 8 am.

For interns from United Kingdom and surrounding regions (+5 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 3 pm to 3:45 pm (UK time) on Friday afternoon as the session will start at 4 pm.

For interns from Turkey and surrounding regions (+7 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 5 pm to 5:45 pm (Turkey time) on Friday evening as the session will start at 6 pm.

For interns from United Arab Emirates and surround regions (+8 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 6 pm to 6:45 pm (UAE time) on Friday evening as the session will start at 7 pm.

For interns from India and surround regions (+9:30 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 7:30 pm to 8:15 pm (Mumbai time) on Friday evening as the session will start at 8:30 pm.

For interns from Hong Kong and China (+12 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 10 pm to 10:45 pm (Hong Kong time) on Friday night as the session will start at 11 pm.

For interns from South Korea (+13 hours), please login to the Zoom session from 11 pm to 11:45 pm (Korea time) on Friday night as the session will start at midnight.

Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp has 651 student interns including 378 students of underrepresented minorities in medicine and science. Our students come from 26 countries around the world: U.S.A. (416), Hong Kong (62), South Korea (45), Germany (30), Turkey (19), Spain (17), India (16), Canada (9), Vietnam (7), Australia (4), Indonesia (3), Mongolia (3), United Arab Emirates (3), China (2), England (2), Italy (2), Nigeria (2), Bangladesh (1), Botswana (1), Brazil (1), Iran (1), Japan (1), Norway (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Scotland (1), and Taiwan (1). Our students also represent 36 states across the U.S.: Alabama (4), Arizona (3), California (52), Colorado (1), Connecticut (10), District of Columbia (3), Florida (10), Georgia (7), Hawaii (9), Idaho (1), Illinois (16), Indiana (2), Kansas (1), Kentucky (4), Maryland (5), Massachusetts (27), Michigan (23), Minnesota (2), Mississippi (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (3), New Jersey (11), New Mexico (4), New York (105), North Carolina (21), Ohio (16), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (11), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (1), Texas (20), Utah (14), Virginia (14), Washington (4), and Wisconsin (2). Many of our students have type 1 diabetes and/or families with diabetes. All of our students share a common interest in advancing their knowledge in diabetes and pursuing a career in medicine, research, and other health care fields. We have 505 college students, 103 high school students, 43 graduate/professor students, and postdoctoral researchers. Our student interns represent the following 175 institutions globally.

Johns Hopkins University
Kiit School of Biotechnology (India)
Korea National Sport University (Korea)
Kosin University College of Medicine (Korea)
Kota Rajasthan Diabetes Center (India)
La Salle University
LaTrobe University (Australia)
Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich
Majmaah University (Saudi Arabia)
Marist College
Marmara University (Turkey)
Mayo Clinic
Medical College Kolkata (India)
Medical College of Georgia
Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada)
Michigan State University
Midwestern State University
Midwestern University (Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine)
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mount Sinai Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine
Nassau Community College
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Hyderabad (India)
National Institutes of Health
Northeastern University
Nova Southeastern University
Ohio State University
Ohio University
Pennsylvania State University
Premier Diabetes Care
Queens College
Queens University (Canada)
Queens University of Charlotte
Rutgers University
Sacred Heart University
Savitribai Phule Pune University (India)
Scripps College
Seoul National University (Korea)
Seoul National University Hospital (Korea)
Soka University of America
State University of New York at Buffalo
Stony Brook University
Sungkyunkwan University (Korea)
Sungshin Women's University (Korea)
Tay Nguyen University (Vietnam)
Technical University of Munich (Germany)
Temple University
Texas State University
The Social & Health Research Center
Trent University
Trinity University
Tufts University
University of California Davis
University of California Los Angeles
University of California Riverside
University of California San Diego
University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry
University of Utah
Univeristy of Wisconsin
Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Rome (Italy)

February 13, 2021

Our Closing Session 14 began with heartfelt closing remarks by Ms. Becky Barnett from the American Diabetes Association, sharing her triumphant personal story of living with type 1 diabetes for more than 30 years. Lauren Kim, the Founder, Director, and Webmaster of Diabetes Virtual Camp, continued the Closing Session by thanking the students, clinicians, and researchers from all across the world for participating in our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp, sharing the story of how our virtual internship program began last year amid COVID-19 pandemic, and wholeheartedly expressing our appreciation for the generous contributions from our interns as we have raised over $3,400 to be donated to the American Diabetes Association to support diabetes research, education, and care. After enthusiastic poll results of our surveys and feedback on our program, Dr. Kim closed out the session by thanking all of our student interns for participating in Diabetes Virtual Camp and encouraging them to stay passionate toward their goals of becoming our next generation of physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals.

February 13, 2021

The exciting Finale Sessions of our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp began with Dr. Mehboob Hussain leading Session 12, where he elegantly shared his lifelong research on understanding why beta cells fail in type 2 diabetes. He began by sharing his personal story on his path to academic medicine that spanned multiple countries and institutions. Dr. Hussain then gave a wonderfully animated discussion on the important action of incretin in regulating beta cells and the protective role of PKA signal against beta-cell failure while sharing his insights on potential methods to engineer stronger beta cells. This was followed by our last Expert session from Dr. Jason Kim, Session 13, where he began with an overview of his diabetes research program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Kim then shared his insights on the important steps of investigative research and how to best prepare for medical school and graduate school where he gave an overview of the medical school admissions process and a glimpse into the clinical residency training program, academic medicine, and “a day in the life of a professor.” As always, our students asked excellent questions that were addressed during the last Q/A event.

February 13, 2021

To receive an electronic Certificate for Diabetes Virtual Camp, you must have attended all of the Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp sessions (unless your absence was previously communicated and noted with reasons) and send a formal email to Diabetes Virtual Camp with a subject heading "Requesting a Diabetes Virtual Camp Certificate" and including the following information: 1) Your full name for the certificate, 2) Indicate and remind us which session(s) you may have missed and why, 3) State your career choice and goals, 4) Describe briefly what you have learned from Diabetes Virtual Camp, and 5) Indicate what topics you would like future Diabetes Virtual Camps to cover. Given a large number of students for the Winter Camp, please be patient as it may take 2~3 weeks for us to process your Certificate. Thank you.

February 8, 2021

Our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp interns participated in more exciting sessions yesterday as they had the opportunity to virtually meet two renowned physicians and scientists in the field of type 1 diabetes and mouse genomics. Dr. Carmella Evans-Molina of the University of Indiana School of Medicine elegantly led Session 10, describing different stages of type 1 diabetes progression and the importance of early intervention, having learned from important clinical studies, including the international Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet Study. Dr. Evans-Molina further discussed her exciting clinical research program examining a role for endoplasmic reticulum stress in beta cells in type 1 diabetes and the therapeutic potential of targeting the beta cells with combined protective and immune therapy as part of a precision health approach to type 1 diabetes. This was followed by a fascinating session 11 from Dr. Kent Lloyd of the University of California Davis, who began by sharing his personal story of a winding path to his scientific success and discussed the old and new concept of precision medicine. Dr. Lloyd then explained different approaches to generating mouse models of human diseases and how Next-Gen mouse models can be integrated into precision medicine by precisely modeling a patient’s disease for accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment, improving the overall health outcomes. Our DVWC interns are inspired by their exciting clinical and basic science research that comes together for improving our health.

February 6, 2021

Our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp interns were treated to two of the most influential scientists in the field of diabetes and genomics. Dr. Jerry Shulman of Yale University School of Medicine gracefully led Session 8 as he shared his lifelong diabetes research in humans and animal models and his discoveries on the molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance with DAG-mediated activation of PKC-epsilon as a unifying theory of lipid-induced insulin resistance in the liver, muscle, and adipose tissue. Dr. Shulman also shared his recent findings on the cellular mechanism of ectopic lipid deposition in the liver and muscle as the root cause of insulin resistance. This was followed by a spectacular Session 9 from Dr. Mike Snyder of Stanford University School of Medicine, giving us such animated presentation about the importance of individual-based medicine and the exciting potential of using combined “omics” profiling of our genes, proteins, metabolites, and other biomarkers over time to map our health and early detect major diseases including diabetes, sharing his personal story. Dr. Snyder also shared an exciting glimpse into our future of medicine using wearable sensors that monitor various clinical parameters, managing our health via personal devices. From the many outstanding questions from our students that followed, our DVWC interns are most stimulated by their exciting research and inspired to contribute to future science and medicine.

February 3, 2021

I hope all of you are excited about this weekend’s all-star lineup of renowned diabetes Experts!

On Saturday at 11 am (Eastern Time), we will all be privileged to meet the opening speaker, Prof. Gerald Shulman of Yale University School of Medicine, who is arguably the most influential figure in diabetes research, having identified the first molecular pathway by which lipid causes insulin resistance and led a series of exciting paradigm shifts to advance our understanding of type 2 diabetes.
As an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Banting Medal for Lifetime Scientific Achievement, the top scientific honor awarded by the American Diabetes Association, Prof. Shulman has made a series of groundbreaking discoveries throughout his lifelong career while continuously developing new therapies for treating type 2 diabetes and becoming a paragon of passionate physician-scientist.

This will be followed by an equally honorable scientist, Prof. Michael Snyder of Stanford University, arguably the most impactful figure in the world of genomics, whose groundbreaking discoveries in functional genomics and integrative omics have paved exciting new ways to understanding the molecular basis of human diseases and the development of diagnostics and therapeutics.
As the Founding Chair of the Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University and the Department of Genetics at Stanford University and as an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Prof. Snyder has also made seminal discoveries throughout his lifelong scientific while launching the exciting new “omics” approach to personalized medicine and pioneering the use of wearables technologies for precision health.

You won’t want to miss this once in a lifetime lineup of incredibly accomplished scientists sharing their passion for diabetes and medicine!
Our email containing the Zoom link for this weekend’s sessions will go out a day before, and please keep a lookout for this email on Friday. See you all Saturday!

Session 8: “Understanding Insulin Resistance – The Root Cause of Type 2 Diabetes” by Dr. Gerald Shulman (Yale University School of Medicine) at 11 am (Eastern Time), and
Session 9: “Precision Diabetes Using Wearables and Big Data” by Dr. Michael Snyder (Stanford University School of Medicine) at 11:30 am (Eastern Time).

January 31, 2021

On this last day of January, the Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp continues with more amazing Session 6 by Dr. Dave Harlan of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, who presented type 1 diabetes as his professional passion for over 35 years, sharing his insights on this autoimmune disease, interesting pancreas transplantation study involving identical twins, and recent findings and exciting new therapeutic approaches to treat type 1 diabetes. This was followed by fantastic Session 7, where Dr. Matthew Brady of The University of Chicago shared the important role of adipose tissue in human diseases that highlighted the many interesting and innovative aspects of adipocytes involved in a possible link between the social behavior and breast cancer as well as between the sleep duration and obesity. Our DVWC interns continue to observe and inquire with challenging questions as our Experts stimulate their growing interest in diabetes!

January 30, 2021

Following my pre-session Q&A event to address many excellent questions from our students, Dr. Heinrich Taegtmeyer of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School led a fabulous Session 4 with a movie-like presentation of a fascinating tale about the discovery of the Krebs Cycle by Sir Hans Krebs. Our student interns were much entertained by Dr. Taegtmeyer’s story that had a little bit of everything; from World War II and the Hitler’s Gift, The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime, the journal Nature editor’s rejection letter on Sir Hans Krebs’ findings in 1937, receiving the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, becoming the Whitney Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, the profound answer Sir Hans Krebs gave when he was asked “What is the major function of the Krebs cycle?” in 1980 shortly before he passed away in 1981, and his last original paper to be published in 1983. An incredible story indeed! This was followed by Session 5, where Dr. Jason Kim of the University of Massachusetts Medical School shared the historical perspective on the causal relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes and its evolving paradigms with new molecular mechanisms involving inflammation and cytokines. The Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp continues to inspire our interns as the next generation of physicians and scientists!

January 29, 2021

We are truly honored to host tomorrow’s Session 4 by Prof. Heinrich Taegtmeyer, who will speak about “The Krebs Cycle – Known Since 1937 and Still Turning.” Any college or high school student studying biology may have learned about The Krebs Cycle (also known as the TCA cycle), named after the Nobel Laureate, Hans Adolf Krebs, who discovered this fundamental biological process used by all aerobic organisms in 1937. Following his M.D. from the University of Freiburg in Germany and clinical training at the Harvard Medical School, Prof. Taegtmeyer received his Ph.D. training under Prof. Hans Krebs. There, Prof. Taegtmeyer designed an improved and instrumental model of isolated working rat heart that paved the way for the decades of groundbreaking scientific discoveries that followed on the importance of metabolic regulation of the heart and its remodeling in diseased conditions. This excerpt from his interview with Circulation Research in 2019 reflects on his humble beginning and his remarkable passion for science, and we are truly excited to meet him virtually tomorrow!

Dr. Taegtmeyer’s session will be followed by Dr. Kim’s Session 5 on “Obesity & Diabetes: Marriage Made in Clinic,” where he will discuss the role of energy balance in body weight regulation and obesity as a major cause of type 2 diabetes with underlying molecular mechanisms.

January 24, 2021

With more than 600 registered students for the Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp, our Q&A period at the end of yesterday’s Opening Session left many great questions from our students unanswered. Hence, we held a pre-session Q&A event today, before the start of sessions, where Dr. Kim addressed some of those previous questions. Today’s Session 2 was led by Dr. Raghu Mirmira of The University of Chicago, who shared inspirational stories of his successful path to academic medicine and his exciting translational research on identifying new therapeutic targets to treat failing pancreatic islets in diabetes. This was followed by Session 3 that was led by Dr. David Wasserman of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who shared his pioneering research on the importance of multi-organ systems in maintaining glucose homeostasis during exercise in healthy and diabetic subjects. Following their presentations, our DVWC interns again asked outstanding and insightful questions for our Experts.

January 23, 2021

The Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp kicked off today with Opening Session where Lauren Kim (Founder, Director, and Webmaster) and Allison Kim (Associate Director and Outreach) made an introduction and shared our goals for the program. This was followed by Session 1, where Dr. Jason Kim of the University of Massachusetts Medical School presented the Introduction to Diabetes by discussing the different types of diabetes with diagnostic criteria, characteristic features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, diabetic complications, the importance of glucose homeostasis with insulin action and secretion, and the major role of insulin resistance in the development of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kim also shared his insights on how to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes using lifestyle modifications (healthy diet and exercise) and different types of drugs currently in use to treat diabetes. We are excited to meet our student interns from all across the world to better understand diabetes and inspire our next generation of physicians and scientists.

January 19, 2021

This email was sent out to all of our registered interns today. If you have not received an email from us, please contact us to confirm your registration information.

Dear Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp (DVWC) Interns,

Our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp will kick off this Saturday at 11 am (Eastern Time) with the Opening Session & Introduction to Diabetes (Session 1), followed by Sunday’s Session 2 & 3.

As of today, you are among 497 registered interns from all around the world, including Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mongolia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and the USA (representing 45 states).

You are also joining 391 college students representing 134 universities, 70 high school students, and 36 graduate/professional students for a truly, global internship event as you’ll learn about exciting diabetes research and therapy from leading scientists and clinicians from highly reputable institutions in the U.S. With continuing registration through this Friday, we expect these numbers to be even higher!

Thanks to your generous contributions, we have also raised $2,340 that will be donated to the American Diabetes Association. We will keep the donation site open throughout the winter camp, and please consider donating to support diabetes research, education, and care.

Important Program Information
All of our Zoom sessions will start at 11 am (Eastern Time or Boston Time in the U.S.), and please check your corresponding local time.
You will receive an email containing the Zoom link with specific passcode 1 hour before the session start time, and you have 45 minutes to enter the Zoom session. In other words, you will receive an email at 10 am (Eastern Time), and you have until 10:45 am (Eastern Time) to enter the Zoom session.
You MUST log in using the FIRST and LAST NAMES that were used for your registration, which will be required for our attendance check. Keep in mind that we must have a record of your attendance in all sessions to receive a certificate at the end of our program.
At the start of the session, we will invite you to turn on your video, and during the session, we encourage you to ask questions using the chat feature. Please do NOT reply or comment on other students’ questions as we will moderate the Q/A section following the presentation for our Experts to address each question.
Since this is a virtual internship program with active participation, there will be a Post-Session Task at the end of the day’s sessions, which will take just a few minutes for you to complete, and this is required for the program certificate.

As always, follow us on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/diabetesvirtualcamp/) and check our website for up-to-date information and news. We are excited to start the Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp on Saturday and see you soon!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim
https://www.diabetesvirtualcamp.org/

January 18, 2021

With an overwhelming response from our outreach efforts, as of today, we have 468 registered interns from 22 countries, including Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mongolia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and the USA. We are delighted to have 280 students of underrepresented minorities in medicine. There are 369 college students representing 126 universities around the world, 65 high school students, and 34 graduate/professional students. We have invited 11 leading scientists and clinicians from the University of Chicago, Indiana University, UMass Medical School, University of Michigan, UC Davis, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Texas, and Vanderbilt University. We still have a few days before the registration closes, and our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp is set to begin this Saturday. We are looking forward to meeting our interns soon!

Our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp has 290 student interns including 107 students of underrepresented minorities in medicine and science. Our students come from all around the world: U.S.A. (192), South Korea (59), China (15), Hong Kong (13), Spain (7), Canada (3), England (1), and Australia (1). Our students also represent 31 states across the U.S.: Alabama (6), Arizona (1), California (25), Colorado (5), Florida (1), Georgia (9), Hawaii (8), Iowa (2), Illinois (2), Indiana (2), Kansas (2), Kentucky (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (14), Maryland (5), Michigan (10), Minnesota (6), Missouri (1), Mississippi (2), North Dakota (1), New Hampshire (6), New Mexico (1), New York (47), Ohio (6), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (7), Texas (6), Utah (4), Virginia (2), Vermont (1), and Washington (3). Many of our students have type 1 diabetes and/or families with diabetes. All of our students share a common interest in advancing their knowledge in diabetes and pursuing a career in medicine, research, and other health care fields. We have 63 high school students and 227 college students representing 54 institutions globally.

Oregon State University
Seoul National University (South Korea)
South University in Virginia
Southern Utah University
Stony Brook University
Suncheon National University (South Korea)
Sungshin Women’s University (South Korea)
UCLA
Universidad Complutense Madrid (Spain)
Universidad de Alcaia (Spain)
University of Alcala de Henares (Spain)
University of Chicago
University of Dayton in Ohio
University of Georgia
University of Hawaii in Manoa
University of Iowa
University of Kentucky
University of Maryland
University of North Dakota
University of South Alabama
University of Toronto
University of Utah
Washington University in St. Louis
Wayne State University
Wellesley College
Yonsei University (South Korea)

October 31, 2020

Happy Halloween!
Our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp came to an end with two exciting sessions from Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Patti and Dr. Thomas Gardner and a Closing Session, where our interns learned about more exciting topics on diabetes.

In today’s Session 12, “The Role of the Gastrointestinal Tract in T2D – Lessons from Bariatric Surgery,” Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Patti (Harvard Medical School) discussed how the gastrointestinal tract, our stomach and intestines, is an important regulator of our body’s metabolism, and that surgery which rearranges the gastrointestinal tract can actually improve glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes to an even greater extent than medication, for some people. She further discussed what we have learned from these studies and what the implications are for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

This was followed by Session 13, “The Benefits of Accidental Discovery” by Dr. Thomas Gardner (University of Michigan Medical School), who shared his personal story on his path to becoming an ophthalmologist and a leading academic researcher in diabetic retinopathy. His inspirational presentation further discussed how accidental findings and persistence pay off in science and life.

The Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp ended with a Closing Session, led by Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim (Diabetes Virtual Camp Team), that invited Ms. Rebecca Barnett from the American Diabetes Association to share her triumphant personal story of living with type 1 diabetes, a series of polls for students’ feedback on the session topics & speakers and the overall program, final Question & Answer period to address remaining questions on the Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and the prospect of our Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp to take place in January of 2021.

It was most delightful to meet all of you from so many different places across the United States and around the world. We sincerely hope that the Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp has provided important learning and experiential opportunities to advance your knowledge of diabetes research and treatment and continues to stimulate your interest in pursuing medicine and research.
We are confident that all of you, as our next generation of physicians and scientists, will make significant advances in diabetes research and medicine while addressing the critical health disparities in medicine and science as they relate to gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic equality, thereby creating a better world of health care and quality life for all.

Thank you for participating in our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all at the Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 30, 2020

It’s hard to believe that four weeks have already passed, and tomorrow will be our final closing session. We hope that all of you have enjoyed and learned a lot from Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp.

Session 12: “The Role of the Gastrointestinal Tract in T2D – Lessons from Bariatric Surgery” by Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Patti (Harvard Medical School)
Session 13: “The Benefits of Accidental Discovery” by Dr. Thomas Gardner (University of Michigan Medical School), and
Closing Session by Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim (Diabetes Virtual Camp Team)

At tomorrow’s Closing Session, we will address any questions you have and give you instructions on how to request a Certificate of Completion of our virtual internship program.
Looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow, and Happy, Safe Halloween to all!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 26, 2020

Another great weekend of the Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp took place yesterday.

In Session 11, “Preparing for Medical School & Graduate School,” Dr. Jason Kim (University of Massachusetts Medical School) began with an introduction of his NIH-sponsored National MMPC program as a global scientific resource for researchers around the world. He further discussed how high school and college students can explore their interests in science and medicine, and how college curriculum and extracurricular activities can be organized to prepare for medical and graduate school. He then presented an overview of the admissions process for medical school and graduate school in the United States. The session ended with a discussion of what to expect and what challenges lie ahead in a winding path to a career in academic medicine and research, and the passion and service that defines this lifelong profession.

Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all next weekend!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 25, 2020

On another picturesque Saturday in the fall, our students from all around the world joined in to learn some exciting topics on diabetes.

In yesterday’s Session 9, “A New Approach to Liver Disease in Type 2 Diabetes,” Dr. Michael Czech (University of Massachusetts Medical School) discussed that one of the major diseases associated with type 2 diabetes is fatty liver, leading to inflammation and “gummy” lesions known as fibrosis, and together, these symptoms in the liver are known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). He explained how this is a major health problem since NASH is now becoming the most common reason for needing a liver transplant in the United States. He further discussed how his team is developing a therapy for NASH that involves a completely new type of medicine in the form of RNA, which needs to be injected only a couple of times a year.

This was followed by Session 10, “Developing New Systems for Investigating Diabetes Genetics,” where Dr. Seung Kim (Stanford University School of Medicine) discussed that genetic risk is an important regulator of diabetes pathogenesis, and his group has developed fruit fly and human islet genetics and physiology to advance our understanding of diabetes genetics. He explained how this has led to the development of new science teaching partnerships with secondary schools around the world through a program called “Stan-X.”

Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all tomorrow!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 23, 2020

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.
Our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp continues this weekend with the following Saturday’s sessions.
Session 9 “A New Approach to Liver Disease in Type 2 Diabetes” by Dr. Michael Czech (University of Massachusetts Medical School), and
Session 10 “Developing New Systems for Investigating Diabetes Genetics” by Dr. Seung Kim (Stanford University School of Medicine).

This will be followed by Sunday’s session.
Session 11 “Preparing for Medical School & Graduate School” by Dr. Jason Kim (University of Massachusetts Medical School).
Thanks, and see you all on Saturday!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 19, 2020

Another fabulous weekend as our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp hosted great sessions by Dr. Jason Kim, Dr. Laura Alonso, and Dr. Rexford Ahima for our interns from worldwide.

Yesterday’s Session 7, “Pancreatic Beta Cell Regeneration: Perspectives of a Physician-Scientist,” began with Dr. Laura Alonso (Weill Cornell Medical College) sharing personal insights on her role as a physician-scientist studying ways to regenerate pancreatic beta cells to restore the body’s capacity to make insulin. She gave us a glimpse of her life in academic medicine as she spends her time helping patients try to keep their diabetes under control using existing therapies and the rest of her time leading a research laboratory seeking better treatments. She further discussed the path to becoming a physician-scientist, along with some of the recent advances made by her research team in beta cell biology.

This was followed by Session 8, “Linking Obesity and Diabetes,” where Dr. Rexford Ahima (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) discussed how adipokines act in the brain and other organs to regulate feeding, energy homeostasis, and glucose and lipid metabolism in our body. He further explained how abnormal adipokine signaling has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all next weekend!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 18, 2020

On a gorgeous Saturday in fall, our students from all around the globe joined in to learn about the important relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes.

In yesterday’s Session 6, “Obesity & Diabetes: Marriage Made in Clinic,” Dr. Jason Kim (University of Massachusetts Medical School) discussed why we are so prone to become obese and what may drive the current obesity pandemic and hormonal regulation of body weight. He further discussed the current paradigms explaining the molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as aging and type 2 diabetes, and the clash between diabetes and COVID-19 associated inflammation. The session ended with a discussion on lessons from the past on how we have failed to control obesity and what we must do now and in the future to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all tomorrow!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 16, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp continues this weekend with the following session on Saturday.
Session 6, “Obesity & Diabetes: Marriage Made in Clinic” by Dr. Jason Kim (University of Massachusetts Medical School).

This will be followed by Sunday’s sessions.
Session 7: “Pancreatic Beta Cell Regeneration: Perspectives of a Physician-Scientist” by Dr. Laura Alonso (Weill Cornell Medical College) and
Session 8: “Linking Obesity and Diabetes” by Dr. Rexford Ahima (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine).

Please remember that all sessions will start at 11 am (Eastern Time in Boston), and check the corresponding time in your time zone. The email containing the link to Saturday’s Zoom session went out today, and the email for Sunday’s Zoom sessions will be sent out tomorrow. Please login as early as possible, starting at 10 am (Eastern Time), using your first and last names that match our registration record. If you do not receive the Zoom link, please contact us.

If you have not yet donated, please consider donating as your generous contributions will support diabetes research, education, and care. The donation site will remain open throughout the program.

For students from Hawaii (-6 hours), please log in to the Zoom session using a password from 4 am to 4:45 am (Hawaii time) on Saturday as the session will start at 5 am.
For students from Spain (+6 hours), please log in to the Zoom session using a password from 4 pm to 4:45 pm (Spain time) on Saturday as the session will start at 5 pm.
For students from Hong Kong (+12 hours), please log in to the Zoom session using a password from 10 pm to 10:45 pm (Hong Kong time) on Saturday night as the session will start at 11 pm.
For students from Korea and Australia (+13 hours), please log in to the Zoom session using a password from 11 pm to 11:45 pm (Korea & Australia time) on Saturday night as the session will start at midnight.

If you get disconnected during the session, just log in again, and we’ll admit you back into the session. Thanks, and see you all on Saturday!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 12, 2020

The fabulous weekend as our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp hosted great sessions by Dr. Bob Eckel, Dr. Mitch Lazar, Dr. Rohit Kulkarni, and Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, who are amazingly accomplished physician-scientists. Our students from all around the world joined in to learn about the importance of diabetes and COVID-19, scientific integrity, and exciting research on environmental and genetic factors contributing to diabetes. Diabetes Virtual Camp is educating and inspiring our next generation of physicians and scientists!

Yesterday’s Session 4, “COVID-19 in People with Obesity and Diabetes,” began where Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis (Tulane University School of Medicine) discussed current knowledge of mechanisms by which COVID-19 severity and mortality are more pronounced in older individuals with diabetes (type 1 and type 2) and metabolic syndrome.

This was followed by Session 5, “The Fundamentals of Ethics for Conducting Scientific Research,” where Dr. Rohit Kulkarni (Harvard Medical School) discussed the ethics of scientific research in understanding the causes of diabetes and obesity and the precautions that scientists take to ensure that the appropriate choices are made to choose the right organism to use for research. He further presented the use of appropriate statistical methods that are necessary to ensure the research is conducted in a manner that will be useful for the prevention and treatment of disease and prolonging the health of humans.

Then, the exciting finale Session 2, “How the Environment and Genes Contribute to Diabetes,” where Dr. Mitchell Lazar (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine) discussed type 2 diabetes being most common and strongly associated with obesity. He explained how diabetes and obesity run in families and are highly hereditary, but the epidemic is also due to the impact of the modern environment, including fattening diets, not enough exercise, and exposure to light around the clock, especially for people doing shift work. He further discussed how these environmental challenges overwhelm normal physiology, in large part, by altering the expression of genes in tissues important for metabolism. The session ended with him explaining that the factors other than the sequence of the genome that determine how genes are expressed are collectively referred to as the epigenome, with his research focusing on how and what goes wrong with the epigenome in obesity and diabetes.

Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all tomorrow!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 10, 2020

I am delighted to tell you that Dr. Mitch Lazar will be giving us his presentation tomorrow following the scheduled Session 4 & 5, starting at 11 am (Eastern Time in Boston), Sunday.
So this will be a special 3-session day for 90 minutes to hear the exciting topics from 3 renowned physician-scientists in our field!

Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom Session 4, 5 & 2 on Sunday, October 11, 2020.
Session 4: COVID-19 in People with Obesity and Diabetes by Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis (Tulane University School of Medicine)
Session 5: The Fundamentals of Ethics for Conducting Scientific Research by Dr. Rohit Kulkarni (Harvard Medical School)
Session 2: How the Environment and Genes Contribute to Diabetes by Dr. Mitchell Lazar (University of Pennsylvania)
I hope all of you are excited to meet these three amazing Experts and see you all soon on Sunday!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 10, 2020

One of the key attributes of a good scientist is managing unanticipated events and improvising to continue science. Our Diabetes Virtual Camp is no exception when it comes to this important life lesson.

One of our Experts, Dr. Mitch Lazar, had a minor accident at home and could not host his session this morning. So we had to improvise as Dr. Jason Kim presented a short topic on Investigative Research, where he discussed the essential steps in the investigative process, a requisite tool shared by scientists and physicians alike to conduct research and practice medicine.

This was followed by Session 3, “Living Lifelong with Diabetes: So Much Accomplished, Yet So Much Still to Be Done,” where Dr. Robert Eckel (President of the American Diabetes Association) shared the personal and inspiring story of his living with type 1 diabetes and a historical perspective and prospects on diabetes.
Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you all tomorrow!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 9, 2020

Beautiful Fall weather and foliage here in Massachusetts, and we hope all of you are enjoying the Fall season wherever you are!

Our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp continues this weekend with the following sessions on Saturday.
Session 2: How the Environment and Genes Contribute to Diabetes by Dr. Mitchell Lazar (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine) and
Session 3: Living Lifelong with Diabetes: So Much Accomplished, Yet So Much Still to Be Done by Dr. Robert Eckel (President of the American Diabetes Association, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus)

They will be followed by Sunday’s sessions.
Session 4: COVID-19 in People with Obesity and Diabetes by Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis (Tulane University School of Medicine)
Session 5: The Fundamentals of Ethics for Conducting Scientific Research by Dr. Rohit Kulkarni (Harvard Medical School)

Please remember that all sessions will start at 11 am (Eastern Time in Boston), and check the corresponding time in your time zone. The email containing the link and password for each day’s Zoom sessions will be sent out 1 hour before the start of the session, at 10 am (Eastern Time in Boston), and you must enter the Zoom session by 10:45 am to be admitted. Please login as early as possible using your first and last names that match our registration record. If you do not receive the Zoom link, please contact us.
See you all Saturday!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 5, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, now partnering with the American Diabetes Association, successfully kicked off yesterday with the Opening Session, where our Diabetes Virtual Camp team of Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim were introduced along with the goals, format, and learning objectives of our Fall Camp.

The Opening Session was followed by Session 1, “Introduction to Diabetes,” where Dr. Kim introduced the topic of diabetes and discussed different types and diagnostics criteria of diabetes, characteristic features of type 1 & type 2 diabetes, diabetic complications, the importance of glucose homeostasis and how insulin regulates our glucose levels, and insulin resistance and its role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Session 1 ended with a discussion on how to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes using lifestyle modifications (healthy diet & exercise) and different types of drugs with their modality of actions.
Thanks for joining our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, and see you next weekend!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 3, 2020

The Opening Session for the Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp will take place tomorrow (Sunday) at 11 am (Eastern Time in Boston).
Session 1: Opening Session & Introduction to Diabetes by Dr. Jason Kim (University of Massachusetts Medical School)

You will receive an email with login information at 10 am (EST), and you must enter the Zoom session by 10:45 am. With a large number of students, I urge you to log in as early as possible upon receiving the email. Importantly, you must enter the Zoom session using your first name and last name that match our registration record to be admitted into the Zoom session. Once you log in, you will be placed in a “waiting room,” and you will be admitted into the session following attendance check.

Important Session Information
At the start of the session, we invite you to turn on the video to see each other. During the session, you can use the Chat feature to ask any questions, and the Expert will address those questions at the end during the Q&A period. Please do not answer or comment on other people’s questions. If you do not receive an email tomorrow morning or have any questions, please contact us via email.
See you all tomorrow!

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

October 1, 2020

On behalf of the Diabetes Virtual Camp, I’d like to extend the warmest welcome to all!

After a successful launch of our summer program that gathered 247 students from 67 colleges and 37 states while raising more than $6,000 in donations, our Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, now partnering with the American Diabetes Association, is set to begin this Sunday (Oct. 4th) with the Opening Session and Introduction to Diabetes.

As of today, we have 258 students from all across the U.S. and from around the world, including Spain, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and China. Despite the current coronavirus pandemic that continues to affect us all, we are truly delighted to see how our program will be uniting students from all across the globe, sharing a common interest in diabetes, medicine, and research.

Please follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/diabetesvirtualcamp), and visit the News page of our website (https://www.diabetesvirtualcamp.org/) for up-to-date information about our program.

For the Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp, we have yet another incredible line up of experts, renowned physicians and scientists from prestigious universities, who will lead exciting Zoom sessions to share their research and therapeutic topics on diabetes and the path to academic medicine. Please visit our website for more detailed information about our experts and session topics. Attendance to all sessions is mandatory, and each intern completing the program will receive a certificate at the end.

All sessions will take place from 11 am to 12 pm (eastern standard time; EST), and you will receive login information for each Zoom session at 10 am (EST) on the day of the session. Thus on this Sunday, you will receive an email with the login information for the Zoom session at 10 am (EST), and you will have until 10:45 am to enter the Zoom session. With a large number of students in this program, I urge you to log in as early as possible upon receiving the email. Please note that there will be a unique password and link to each day’s Zoom session. Once you log in, you will be placed in a “waiting room,” and you will be admitted into the Zoom session following attendance check. Importantly, you MUST enter the Zoom session using your first name and last name that matches your registration record to be admitted into the Zoom session.

Last but not least, if you have not yet donated, please consider donating as your generous contributions will support diabetes research, education, and care. The donation site will remain open throughout the program.
Please contact us if you have any questions, and we are looking forward to meeting you all, virtually, on Sunday.

Diabetes Virtual Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp has 247 student interns representing 68 colleges and high schools from 37 different states (and Puerto Rico) as well as Canada, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and South Korea. We also have 106 students of underrepresented minorities in medicine and science, and have raised $6,040 that will be donated to the American Diabetes Association to support diabetes care, education, and research.
Our 144 college students represent the following institutions:

Our 103 high school students represent the following states and countries:

New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Washington DC
West Virginia
Wisconsin
British Columbia, Canada
Nova Scotia, Canada
Quebec, Canada
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Puerto Rico
South Korea

September 1, 2020 

We’d like to share another exciting science that was just published in this month’s scientific journal, Cell Metabolism, resulting from our collaborative research with Dr. Anath Shalev’s laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham that discusses the exciting discovery of an orally available small molecule with therapeutic potential to treat type 2 diabetes.

July 31, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp entered its final week with Monday’s Session on “Preparing for Medical School & Graduate School” where our student interns learned about what experiences high school students can engage and what curricular & extracurricular activities college students can explore to best prepare for future medical school and graduate school, what to expect when applying to professional schools, and what lies ahead in respective careers. This was followed by Wednesday’s fabulous sessions from Dr. Sonia Najjar from Ohio University who shared her exciting research on a protein, CEACAM and its important role in various human diseases, and Dr. Gary Cline from Yale who shared his innovative approach of using PET imaging to understand human beta cells. The final week of our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp ended with more amazing sessions from Dr. Feng Liu from University of Texas at San Antonio who discussed his interesting research on an important protein, adiponectin, made by our fat cells, and Dr. Patrick Tso from University of Cincinnati whose animated discussion of his lifelong research on intestinal fat absorption gave a triumphant end to our 4-week long Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp. Our Closing Session polled some of our students’ favorite sessions, what they have learned from our program, and what they hope to see in our future programs.

We are utmost grateful to all of our Expert scientists and clinicians who have volunteered their time and efforts for the program and given such fantastic presentations to our student interns to bring an incredible success to our inaugural Diabetes Virtual Camp.
We are also most grateful to the generous contributions from our students and their families as we have raised $6,040 for our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp that has been donated to the American Diabetes Association.
Soon after our program ended, we have been in communication with the American Diabetes Association who has offered to co-sponsor our future programs starting with the Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp to take place in October.

In all, it was fabulous to have so many wonderful, bright future stars in our virtual program, to hear that our program has made such positive impact to their summer which has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, and to know that our student interns will take their new knowledge to make our communities more equitable and far better place for all of us to enjoy a healthy and caring lifestyle.
Enjoy the remaining summer while practicing social distance, wearing masks, and being safe, and we hope to see you all in Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

July 24, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp enters its 3rd week with Monday’s Session on “Investigative Research 101” where our student interns learned about the investigative process involving scientific hypothesis, review of research articles, approaches to designing experiments, and presentation of scientific results. Our student interns also learned about the importance of conducting ethical, unbiased, and reproducible research and the role of investigative research in medical training. This was followed by Wednesday’s fabulous sessions from Dr. Olga Gupta of UT Southwestern Medical Center who shared her innovative psychosocial approach of using pets to improve self-management of type 1 diabetes, and Dr. Jiandie Lin of University of Michigan who shared his exciting scientific approach to study fatty liver disease using state-of-the-art single-cell technologies. The week 3 of our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp ended with more amazing sessions from Dr. Fumihiko Urano of Washington University in St. Louis who discussed the important potential of genetic testing for diabetes and Wolfram Syndrome, and Dr. Adolfo Garcia-Ocana of Mount Sinai School of Medicine who shared his interesting research on cellular factors that increase insulin-producing beta cells.

As we are heading into the final week of our program, enjoy the summer weekend while practicing social distance, wearing masks, and being safe!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

July 17, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp marched on its 2nd week with Monday’s Session on “Obesity & Type 2 Diabetes: A Marriage Made in Clinic” where our student interns learned about the health risk of rapidly rising prevalence of obesity in the U.S., the important causal relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and how inflammation plays a major role in its molecular link. This was then followed by Wednesday’s amazing sessions from Dr. Anath Shalev of University of Alabama at Birmingham who shared her exciting translational research on potential new diabetes drugs, and Dr. Ta Yuan Chang of Dartmouth College who shared his lifelong research on cholesterol trafficking and its role in dementia. The week 2 of our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp ended with more spectacular sessions from Dr. Richard Lee of Harvard Medical School who shared an important story on the danger of fructose and its increased use in our daily diet, and Dr. Marc Tetel of Wellesley College who shared his interesting research on estrogen and gut microbiome.

With more exciting sessions to come next week, enjoy the weekend everyone, and please social distance, wear masks, and be safe!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

July 10, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp is off to a fantastic start with Monday’s Opening Session & Introduction to Diabetes, Wednesday’s amazing sessions by Dr. Eugene Barrett of UVA and Dr. Maureen Gannon of Vanderbilt sharing such inspirational stories, and today’s fabulous sessions by our NYC Experts, Dr. Anthony Ferrante of Columbia and Dr. Ann Marie Schmidt of NYU sharing such exciting research stories.

We now have 246 students registered and raised almost $6,000 in donation!

There are 137 college students from 65 different colleges, and 109 high school students from 33 different states plus Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Dominica Republic, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, and South Korea. These include 103 students who are of underrepresented minority in medicine and science.

On Monday, our students learned the basics of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, how diabetes is diagnosed, how insulin regulates glucose homeostasis and how it fails in insulin resistance, how we can better manage our health and diabetes with lifestyle modifications, and the importance of heart disease as a major complication of diabetes. On Wednesday, Dr. Eugene Barrett discussed the important effects of high glucose on damaging our blood vessels, and Dr. Maureen Gannon shared an inspiring personal story of her winding path to success. Today, Dr. Anthony Ferrante explained how we maintain our body weights and the important role of leptin in this effort, and Dr. Ann Marie Schmidt discussed fascinating stories of her discovery of RAGE as a potential therapeutic target to treat many human diseases including diabetes.

While the current COVID-19 pandemic has affected our ability to engage physically, the virtual world is alive, and our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp is moving into the 2nd week with more exciting science to learn and share. Enjoy the weekend everyone, and please social distance, wear masks, and be safe!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

July 4, 2020

Happy 4th of July everyone!

While you are celebrating, please be mindful of the importance of social distancing and wearing masks for we must combat this COVID-19 pandemic.

IMPORTANT PROGRAM INFORMATION
Our program is set to begin on Monday, July 6th at 11 am (EST) with an important “Opening Session and Introduction to Diabetes”. We will be emailing you a link to our Zoom session at 10 am (EST) on the day of the session, and you must log in to the session by 10:45 am. Due to a large number of interns, you are encouraged to log in as early as possible to be admitted from the waiting room. You must also use the first and last name provided on the registration form for verification.

Tomorrow’s Trial Session (Optional)
We will hold a Trial Session tomorrow (Sunday) at 11 am (EST) (for students with last name starting with A through K) and at 12 pm (EST) (for students with last name starting with L through Z). This will be a 30-min session for you to ask any questions about the program, and Dr. Kim will introduce you to some topics that will be covered by the Expert session, such as gut microbiome and metabolism. Your participation in this Trial Session is optional. For students with last name starting with A~K, we will email you the Zoom session link at 10 am (EST), and please log in to the session by 10:45 am (EST). For students with last name starting with L~Z, we will email you the Zoom session link at 11 am (EST), and please log in to the session by 11:45 am (EST).

If you have any questions, please contact us. We are looking forward to meeting you soon, virtually!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

July 3, 2020

Following an incredibly enthusiastic response, we have 240 registered students and raised $5,500 in donation! There are 136 students from 62 different colleges, and 104 high school students from 32 different states as well as British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Puerto Rico, and Ecuador. These include 98 students who are underrepresented minority in medicine and science.

Here is their college list: Amherst College, Bay Path, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Cal Poly Pomona, Cape Cod Community, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve University, College of Wooster, CSU San Marco, Duke, Florida A&M, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida International, Florida State University, Fordham, Framingham State, Franklin & Marshall College, Front Range Community, Harvey Mudd College, Indiana University, Iowa State University, Lafayette College, Marquette University, Mass College of Pharmacy & Health Service, North Carolina State University, Northeastern, NYU, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Penn State University, Portland State University, Regis College, Rice University, Salem State University, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, Temple, Texas A&M, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Riverside, University of Connecticut, UMass-Amherst, Universidad Espiritu Santo, University of British Columbia, University of Dayton, University of Georgia, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Miami, University of Nebraska, University of New Hampshire, University of Puerto Rico, University of South Florida, University of Toledo, University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University, Virginia Tech University, Wellesley College, and Williams College.

Our program was featured in recent articles by Close Concerns and diaTribe, the charitable organizations that support families with diabetes, and here are the links to their articles about our program.

https://www.closeconcerns.com/knowledgebase/r/32f85624

https://diatribe.org/free-virtual-diabetes-research-summer-program-high-school-and-college-students

We are all excited to start our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp on coming Monday, July 6th, and till then, we wish all of you a fabulous and safe 4th of July celebration!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

June 26, 2020

Our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp program continues to draw tremendous enthusiasm from all areas of our country. As of now, we have 104 registered attendees and raised almost $2,600 in donation!

Our 71 college students represent 26 universities from all across the U.S.: Bay Path University, Boston College, Boston Univ., Cal Poly Pomona, Carnegie Mellon, College of Wooster, Duke, Florida A&M, Florida International, Framingham State, North Carolina State, Northeastern, NYU, Ohio State, Salem State, Temple, UConn, UMass-Amherst, Univ. of Georgia, Univ. of Miami, Univ. of Nebraska, Univ. of South Florida, Univ. of Toledo, Wellesley College, and Williams College. These college students are joined by 33 high school students from Massachusetts to California.

Many of our students are type 1 diabetic or have family members with diabetes, and 39 students are underrepresented minority in medicine and science.

With our virtual camp set to begin in 10 days, our program is finalized with so many interesting and important topics that will be brought to you by equally exciting Experts eagerly awaiting to meet you all. We will continue to accept registration through July 1st, and donation window will remain open through the end of our program on July 31st.

This is a fabulous opportunity for all college and high school students with growing interest in science and medicine to learn more about diabetes, biomedical research, and academic medicine. Please join us!

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim

June 19, 2020

Following an incredibly enthusiastic response since last week's launch of our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp program, we already have 83 registered attendees and raised almost $1,800 in donation!

We have 58 college students representing 21 universities from all across the U.S.: Boston College, Boston Univ., Cal Poly Pomona, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Florida A&M, Florida International, Northeastern, NYU, Univ. of Connecticut, Univ. of Massachusetts, Univ. of Georgia, Univ. of Miami, Univ. of Nebraska, Univ. of South Florida, Univ. of Toledo, Wellesley College, and Williams College. These college students are joined by 23 high school students.

Some of our students are themselves type 1 diabetic or have family members with diabetes. Some come from smaller colleges with limited access to biomedical research. But the most exciting and welcoming profile is that more than 1/3 of our registered students are underrepresented minority in medicine and science.

In all, our Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp is poised to benefit many students who would not have had the opportunity for a traditional research internship program, and we hope that this learning experience will help them become our future stars in diabetes research, education, and care.

Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp Team
Lauren, Allison, and Dr. Jason Kim