The 15th Biennial Meeting of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group North America

University Of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract The 15th biennial Conference of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group of North America (DPSG-NA) will be held on October 26-28, 2017 at The Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. This conference focuses on the research that addresses the specialized needs of pregnant women with type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes mellitus. Since its inception, the DPSG-NA meetings have become a vehicle for the dissemination of data, gathered through collaboration among basic, translational, and clinical research and care centers, both in the United States and abroad. The meeting covers a board range of issues related to diabetes in pregnancy, but the focus of the meeting is to highlight major, timely issues related to diabetes in pregnancy. The major goal of this conference is, and has historically been, to serve as a driving force for discussions and new collaborations that open novel areas of exploration into prevention, treatment and management approaches to reducing the burden of diabetes and its comorbidities on pregnant women and their offspring. This goal will be achieved utilizing oral presentations, roundtable discussions, and debates that will bring together world's experts, young investigators, students, and fellows who all have a keen interest in the field. The focus of the upcoming meeting will be the prevention of diabetes and obesity, as well as the alterations seen in the placenta secondary to obesity and diabetes. The program includes keynote addresses from both a maternal-fetal medicine expert and an epidemiologist to discuss the strategies to reduce the diabetes epidemic in the United States. Speakers include established experts and young investigators, with about 15% of the meeting time allocated for speaker- conferee discussions. Young investigator presentations are an important aspect of the meeting, and they are an effective tool to help bring a new generation of scientists into our community and foster their maturation by their inclusion as presenters and session chairs. In addition, a dedicated poster session will be enhanced by holding all coffee and refreshment breaks in the poster room to ensure information discussions among conferees. Formal presentations and informal discussions among conferees are highlights of this unique meeting that fosters a collaborative, multifaceted approach to improving the health and wellbeing of pregnant women with diabetes and their offspring.