Summit 2024: Disparities, hidden impediment to successful change

The 2024 Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Summit was the fourth Summit we have hosted and was held on Thursday 26 September at Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa Marae (Auckland Airport). The event was hosted by Dr John Baker and Robert Clark. This year the theme was on disparities, with the title "disparities, hidden impediment to successful change". Details including the programme and speaker biographies are further down this page.

Videos from the event will available shortly. If you weren't registered prior to the event, please fill in your details for any further information to come, and keep an eye on our social media.

2024 Summit Hosts

Dr John Baker

John has been a Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Trustee for more than 20 years and the Chairperson since 2018.

John is a diabetes physician dedicated to improving standards of diabetes care and finding new ways to address the serious health inequities experienced by Māori and Pacifica peoples in our community.

Robert Clark

Manawhenua i Tāmaki Makaurau Trust Board Chair and Counties Manukau Health Treaty Partner, Robert specialises in Governance/Kaitiaki for iwi, haapuu, marae. He has Type 2 Diabetes and has participated in recent trials.

2024 Summit Key Note Speaker

Distinguished Professor Dr David Simmons

As the original founder of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa back in the 1990’s (with the support of Sir John Scott, Betty Hunapo, Christina Tapu and Dr David Scott), the connection with South Auckland and Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa and its goals can’t get much deeper. In his years of work, first at Middlemore and later in the Waikato, Professor Simmons has put great energy into helping those most affected by diabetes. With his strong historic links into the Tāmaki Makaurau community he is currently working and consulting on locally relevant research, as well as providing academic supervision and support from across the Tasman and visits Aotearoa New Zealand regularly to see his whanau here and for work.

With over 480 refereed publications, he has won several national and international awards for his work in diabetes epidemiology, diabetes in pregnancy and diabetes service development including the American Diabetes Association 2020 Norbert Freinkel Award and 2022 Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group Pederson Awardee. He is the immediate past president of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS). He was the trial coordinator for the DALI lifestyle RCT to prevent GDM and is the Chief Investigator for the TOBOGM study the first large RCT of diagnosing and treating early gestational diabetes mellitus. He remains a practising endocrinologist holding weekly diabetes in pregnancy clinics.

Program for 2024 Summit

1. Pōhiri, Welcome/Mihi

Pōhiri, welcome/mihi by Robert Clark (Chairman, Manawhenua) will start at 4.45pm sharp
Hosted by Robert Clark and John Baker (Chairman, Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa)

2. Keynote: Disparities in Diabetes management and outcomes

Presented by Distinguished Professor David Simmons

3. Ethnic disparities

PhD topic/update.
Presented by Kanchana Perera.

4. Adolescent weight loss project

Presented by Kate Smallman

5. FIZZ

Fighting sugar in soft drinks
Presented by Gerhard Sundborn

6. CGM, devices and the system

Presented by Shekhar Sehgal

5. Panel Discussion - The Patient Perspective

Technology and the people who actually use it

2024 Summit Guest Speakers

Kanchana Perera

Kanchana Perera is currently in her 2nd year of her Ph.D., at Western Sydney University under the supervision of Professor David Simmons. Her research is primarily funded by Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, and focuses on evaluating ethnic disparities in type 2 diabetes and associated complications, particularly diabetic kidney disease, in New Zealand.

Kate Smallman

Kate is a Nurse Practitioner working in diabetes and aged care. Kate is the Clinical Director for Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa where she has worked for more than 24 years. Originally from UK, Kate has been living in Aotearoa since the late 1990's and is mother to a daughter and grandmother to two beautiful boys.

Kate has worked in diabetes for the last 40 years and is passionate about improving the care provided to people with diabetes. Kate has been involved in or run a variety of research projects, the most recent research has been relating to weight loss in adolescents with or at risk of type 2 diabetes. Kate has taught at Auckland University on diabetes and prescribing papers, delivered diabetes care in Primary care, is or has been on a number of committees including NZSSD (New Zealand society for the study of diabetes) and the Pharmac Ptac Sub committee, and had active roles in supporting and moderating accreditation for diabetes nurses.

Gerhard Sundborn

Dr Gerhard Sundborn is an epidemiologist and Senior lecturer of Population and Pacific Health at University of Auckland.

Gerhard is a passionate public health researcher with particular interest in the health of Pacific peoples. Gerhard was founder of the advocacy group FIZZ (Fighting sugar In Soft Drinks) and is currently organising a Symposium looking at progress made in this area over the last 10 years. He is a long-standing member of the Board of Trustees of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa.

Shekhar Sehgal

Consultant endocrinologist, physician and PhD candidate who is passionate about Diabetes and Endocrine research and Pacific health issues.

2024 Patient Panel

Ruby McGill (Te Atiawa)

Ruby McGill (Te Atiawa) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 14 years old. And over the past 26 years has become a staunch advocate for people living with diabetes being able to access the tools, medicines and support needed to live well.

Ruby shares her diabetes journey & experience on social media to help others thrive, most recently creating a six-week group coaching programme to help people living with diabetes build a strong, healthy and resilient mind. She jumps at every opportunity to raise awareness about life with diabetes and is currently working towards a bachelor of health science, believing strongly that it shouldn't be a luxury to live well with diabetes in New Zealand.

Ruby currently uses an insulin pump and CGM to manage her blood sugars and is excited that from 1st October more people will be able to access this life-saving technology