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You Helped Us Raise Over $215,000! Thank You!

Thank you for attending Joslin Diabetes Center's first-ever virtual A Taste of Ginger! With your support, we were able to raise over $215,000 for Joslin's Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI).

Thanks to our dedicated restaurant partners, sponsors, and supporters it was an inspirational evening filled with education, food, and fun.

Your generosity allows the AADI to continue to improve the quality of life and health outcomes for Asian Americans living with diabetes. During the event, you heard about their new bilingual booklet, Diabetes Prevention and Management: A Guide for Asian Americans. This booklet serves as a practical guide on managing diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you find this resource helpful as we continue to navigate this challenging time.

Didn't get the chance to make your gift on Sunday? You still can! Click here to make a gift.

​Diabetes Prevention and Management: A Guide for Asian Americans

The AADI has created "Diabetes Prevention and Management: A Guide for Asian Americans" with Asian Americans who have diabetes or live with someone with diabetes in mind, to serve as a practical guide on taking great care of themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be available in 5 languages on May 16th, and are free to download from the AADI website:

• English
• Chinese (Simplified)
• Chinese (Traditional)
• Japanese
• Korean

This booklet covers many topics that are helpful for those with diabetes and those who live with or care for them. We hope this booklet will empower many health ambassadors like you, who are helping their family and friends in their community to navigate this challenging time.

Please feel free to share with anyone who may find these helpful. And thank you again for supporting the AADI to help us make tools like these and help us lead healthier life!

4th Annual Lawrence and Evelyn Wing Family Lectureship on Diabetes

Elisa Choi, MD, FACP, FIDSA
Massachusetts ACP Chapter Governor

"Anti-Asian Racism and COVID-19: Pandemics in Parallel"

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If you were not able to join us live on Zoom, watch the recorded lecture here!

Dear patients of the Joslin's Asian Clinic and friends of the AADI,

I am writing regarding the rise of racism and hate crimes against Asian Americans in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S.

Having immigrated to the United States when I was in elementary school, and witnessing pivotal Civil Rights events in 1960's, I am not surprised by the recent surge of xenophobic activities. We have unfortunately experienced them over the years even in LMA and, yes, even at Joslin. To be reminded that anti-Asian-American prejudice persists and to face micro-aggressions such as being complimented on my ability to speak English so well, is as jarring today as when I was in high school.

Racism of any kind, whether it targets Black, Asian-American or other minority groups is never acceptable.

Having been at Joslin since 1981, I want to stress that Joslin's Administration has always been very open to addressing issues of racial inequity and insensitivity when they are made known.

Dr. Roberta Herman, Joslin's President and CEO also expressed this in a statement to Joslin employees:

"….., President Biden talked about the violence we have seen and are seeing against Asians and Asian Americans propagated by mistruths about the virus. I want to be clear that Joslin condemns such behavior and the false beliefs that lead to it. In the same spirit we have stood with our colleagues of color, we fully support our Asian and Asian American colleagues."

Some of Joslin's efforts to fight disparities, racism and inequity include:

1.       At least two committees to take concrete steps to improve the structure of how we address racial inequities.

2.       The presence of the Asian and Latino Diabetes Clinics, which were built 20 years ago, when we began publishing data to show that the addition of culturally-appropriate materials and medical treatments can significantly overcome health disparities.

3.       The establishment of the Asian-American Diabetes Initiatives (AADI) for advocacy, education, clinical care and research to improve efforts to prevent and treat diabetes in Asian-Americans locally and nationally.

4.       Fundraising events to support AADI, such as the annual A Taste of Ginger, held virtually this year in May during Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

5.       Joslin is proud to have Asian American staff members working in every division of the organization.

I want you to know that Joslin leadership actively discusses safety and security issues on an ongoing basis, and this time is no different when we are considering taking additional steps and conferring with other LMA organizations on safety issues.

I am always optimistic and know that when we all try, we can individually and collectively improve our life experiences by fully embracing the richness of our diversity. Please take extra care to be safe and to look out for one another.

George L. King MD

Founder and Director of Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI)

Chief Scientific Officer

Joslin Diabetes Center

Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology

Harvard Medical School

​Joslin Asian Clinic Webinar Series

Dr. George L. King, Chief Scientific Officer at Joslin Diabetes Center and the Founder of the Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI) and Joslin's Asian Clinic will discuss how you can self-care and better manage your diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Click here to watch Dr. King's webinar

Ka Hei Karen Lau, Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) and Registered Dietitian (RD) at Joslin's Asian Clinic will discuss how you can self-care and better manage your diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click here to watch Karen's webinar

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Join us On November 19th from 8:30pm-10:30pm! Click on the link here to register for free!

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Join us on next weeks webinar hosted by Asian Women for Health. Ka Hei Karen Lau, Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator will be giving tips on how to stay safe and health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Click here to register for the webinar! ​https://www.asianwomenforhealth.org/

Title: "COVID-19 Related Info and Self Care FAQs for Asian people with Diabetes"

People with diabetes are severely affected by COVID-19, 30-40% of the hospitalized people with COVID-19 infection have diabetes. This increased risk is even higher if you have high blood pressure and are overweight, as reported both in China, Europe and US. It is crucial for you to take extra efforts for diabetes management in order avoid contracting the infection and for your body to fight the infection if you are exposed by taking some steps, including eating well. Joslin Diabetes Center's Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI) and the Asian Clinic have put together resources and created FAQs on self carethat are relevant to Asian communities. Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), Ka Hei Karen, will go over the summary of these resources and discuss what we can eat to stay healthy during this challenging time.

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Dear All,

Today, we had planned to celebrate the 16th annual A Taste of Ginger event to recognize 20 years of the Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI) at Joslin. It is sad that we had to cancel the 16th Taste of Ginger at the MFA. However, AADI is very active and working to help Asian Americans with diabetes locally and nationally.
 
Locally, the Asian Clinic is still very active and Drs. King, Hou and Ganda, Ms. Karen Lau, CDE and dietitian and Ms. Julia Li are using telehealth to communicate with our patients. Ms. Chihiro Sato is also active with outreach efforts in collaborations with the Mass. Department of Health regarding diabetes.
 
We are active on the web and nationally in the following way: Asian-American Diabetes Initiative (AADI); AADI with the help of Ms. Chihiro Sato, Karen Lau, Julia Li and Drs. Om Ganda and King have posted on Joslin web suggestions for increasing intensive lifestyle and medical care for people with diabetes, especially of Asian descent, in light of COVID-19 viral epidemic. This post is translated into Japanese (by Ms. Chihiro Sato), Korean (by Dr. Kyoungmin Park), Chinese (Traditional, by Ms. I-Hsien Wu, and Simplified by Dr. Qian Li), and soon in other Asian languages. In addition, it has links to many other articles or lectures on COVID-19 related to diabetes by leaders in diabetes from many Asian countries. In fact almost all the lecturers were previous Joslin fellows. This post will be sent to all health agencies, associations and community centers that serve or have predominate Asian-American followings in the US. Since AADI leads the largest coalition of AA organizations with focus on diabetes, this post will be read by and, hopefully, help many people.
 
I hope this gives you an update of AADI activities during this difficult time.
 
Stay well!
 
Best,
George
 
George L. King MD
Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology
Harvard Medical School
Chief Scientific Officer
Joslin Diabetes Center

We are invited back by the Head Start Program in Quincy, to give another talk the Parent Cafe! 

​Our 10th Asian Social Club was held on April 17, 2019. Special thank you to Jackie Shahar for leading the exercise portion of the event! 

Are you interested in learning about which foods can help prevent diabetes? Check out the article written by Dr. George King which is now published on Bottom Line!

Link here:

https://bottomlineinc.com/health/prevention/the-secret-food-fix-that-stops-diabetes

If you want to learn more about healthy eating, check out our Drag'n Cook website which allows you to create healthier versions of your favorite recipes. It also has 15 delicious but healthy recipes for you to try!

Dear Friends,​

It is with mixed emotions that I am writing to let you know that I will be leaving my clinical, research and education staff positions at Joslin Diabetes Center. I will be taking on a new position in California to pursue the next phase of my professional development. This has been a very difficult decision for me. However, I'd like to thank you for letting me be a part of your health care team. I know that I will leave your diabetes care in the hands of a trusted and capable team at Joslin. My last day in the clinic will be August 29^th, 2019.  

If you do not already have an appointment scheduled for follow-up care with your new provider, please call the Asian Clinic (617) 309-3444 to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

If you do choose to seek your diabetic care outside the Diabetes Center, Joslin will provide your new healthcare provider with your medical information upon your request and written authorization.     

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to be involved in your medical care.  It has certainly been a privilege and honor being your physician. I wish you and your family much good health and happiness.

Sincerely,

 William Hsu, MD 

​Dr. King was invited by Harvard Medical School's South Asian Medical and Dental Association (SAMDA) and the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) to give a presentation at their RepresentAsian in Data Conference on Saturday, August 24, 2019. He talk was titled: "AAPI Health-Diabetes-Screen at 23"

​We're excited to kickoff our 5th Walking Club! Join us for five Saturday mornings in Boston Common at the Parkman Bandstand. This event will be a great way to enjoy the short summer season here in the New England. 

For registration and questions, feel free to contact AADI at 617-309-3444 or email us at aadi@joslin.harvrd.edu

​Dr. Hsu was invited as the keynote speaker for the annual Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Diabetes Summit. His talk was titled "Emphasizing Equity in Diabetes Care and Prevention"