It seems nearly everyone knows Nicole Johnson.  They remember her as Miss America 1999, they’ve seen her at conferences, on social media.  All that, plus the fact that she always seems to have a smile on her face, makes people forget that she is actually Doctor Nicole Johnson, who is the first person to earn a Doctor of Public Health degree at the University of South Florida.  Moreover, she is actually doing something important and meaningful with that distinction.  That’s why you’ll hear me refer to her as Dr. Johnson, rather than Nicole, throughout our talk.  She’s earned that right.In this episode of Diabetes By The Numbers, Dr. Johnson lets us in on the groundbreaking Postdoctoral Diabetes Fellowship Program that she’s running out of the University of South Florida.Part patient-facing, part research, five women from around the country will be taking part over the next year in a program that will develop and enhance their understanding of the complex relationship between human behavior and diabetes.  Definitely a subject worth further scrutiny.  The fellows will be mentored by doctors at the head of the class in this subject, including Dr. Johnson herself, Dr. Korey Hood at Stanford, Dr. Lori Laffel at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, and Dr. Jill Weissberg-Benchel at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.I would tell you more, but I prefer to defer to Dr. Johnson for the rest.Dr. Nicole Johnson is Executive Director of Bringing Science Home:http://bringingsciencehome.com  Bringing Science Home is involved in a number of initiatives, including, but not limited to:Students With Diabetes http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/studentswithdiabetes/Diabetes Partners http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/bringingsciencehome/diabetes-partners/

©Stephen Shaul