Nursing expert on diabetes to present the 2014 Margaret A. Nelson Lecture

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Gail D’Eramo Melkus, EdD, C-NP, FAAN, the Florence and William Downs Professor in Nursing Research and director of the Muriel and Virginia Pless Center for Nursing Research at New York University will present the annual Margaret A. Nelson Lecture at 2 p.m. on March 28 in 114 Wende Hall on UB’s South Campus.

The lecture, “Type 2 Diabetes: Journey from Description to Intervention” is free and open to the public.

D’Eramo Melkus has a distinguished body of work in the field of diabetes. The dissemination and translation of her work has contributed to reshaping the delivery of diabetes care.

Her significant body of work includes developing and testing culturally competent models of diabetic care with a focus on eliminating health disparities in vulnerable populations. She has consulted with the Indian Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control, the American Diabetes Association, and National Institutes of Health grant initiatives.

In conjunction with the Diabetes Research and Training Center of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she developed and implemented the first specialty concentration in diabetes care for advanced practice nurses in the country.

Her current research project is entitled, “Diabetes Self-Management and Support LIVE (Learning in Virtual Environments): testing the effectiveness of a virtual life environment on metabolic and psychosocial outcomes in diverse adults with type 2 diabetes.”

She received her ASN/BS from the University of Bridgeport, her MS in nursing from Southern Connecticut State University and her EdD from Columbia University Teacher’s College, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

Melkus expressed being honored at being chosen as the Nelson lecturer.

"Having worked with individuals with diabetes for over 25 years I am very aware of the day-to-day challenges of diabetes care. Such care is taken on by the individual and their families often with few resources beyond medical management," said Meljus.

"I am deeply touched that this lecturership is endowed by a family who has had the lived experience of diabetes and through this lectureship wants to educate others therefore reminding us that this all too common disease is increasing in epidemic proportions and needs the attention of the health care community."

Marsha Lewis, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the University at Buffalo School of Nursing said how pleased she was for the nursing school to have D’Eramo Melkus as the Nelson lecturer this year.

“Dr. D’Eramo Melkus is such an accomplished researcher with expertise in the health disparities and the delivery of diabetes care, an extremely important topic in health care today,” she said.

"The Margaret A. Nelson Endowed Lecture has not only enabled the School of Nursing to attract such high caliber speakers to UB, but also to open this forum to the public and share this opportunity with our Western New York Community."

Margaret A. Nelson, a UB School of Nursing alumna (BS '54, MS '58) created this endowed fund to honor her late children, Linda Nelson Buettner and Bruce Nelson, who died of complications related to diabetes. The endowment fund was established to invite a visiting scholar to the UB School of Nursing to educate faculty, students, staff and the community about prevention, early detection and management of diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Nelson also created the endowment to commemorate her life-long commitment to the nursing field and to acknowledge the significant impact that a teacher and other community partners can play in the pursuit of new knowledge and research. Bringing a visiting scholar serves to benefit nurses, other healthcare professionals, educators, parents and other community members who may have an interest in prevention, early detection and management of diabetes and other chronic illnesses.