Elizabeth Selvin (born 1977) is an American diabetes epidemiologist. She is a

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of epidemiology at the

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution ...

Early life and education

Selvin was born to parents Nancy Selvin and

Steve Selvin Steve Selvin (born 1941) is an American statistician who is a professor emeritus of biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Selvin joined the faculty of the ''School of Public Health'' at UC Berkeley in 1972 and in 1977 he became ...

.Peterson, Susan H. "Dynamic Still Lifes of Form and Beauty," ''Airbrush Digest'', September/October 1984, p. 24–32. She earned her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

in 1999 before enrolling at the

University of Michigan School of Public Health The University of Michigan School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Michigan. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, UM SPH is one of the oldest schools of public health in the country and is also conside ...

for her M.P.H. and

for her PhD. While studying at Northwestern, Selvin collaborated with professor Burton Weisbrod to propose amendments to public policy surrounding non-profit health care providers.

Career

Upon earning her PhD, Selvin joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as a post-doctoral fellow where she began to research diabetes and heart risks. She led a research project in her first year as a faculty member which found that lowering glucose levels in patients with diabetes could greatly reduce their risk to heart disease. She continued to research risks associated with diabetes and concluded in 2006 that the age of which a patient is diagnosed with diabetes drastically affected their treatment plans. As the lead author, she analyzed data from 1999-2002 of 2,809 elderly people to create a national sample size of the prevalence of diabetes among elderly persons in the general American population. In 2013, she received the Harry Keen Memorial Award from the International Diabetes Epidemiology Group. As an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the '' North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is ...

, Selvin led a research project which found that diabetes had increased in the United States since 1988. Due to these findings, Selvin and her research team proposed wide range screenings and treatments for blacks, Hispanics, and the elderly, who were more dramatically affected. In the same year, she also led the world's longest diabetes study focusing on a cross-section of adults as they age. The result of the study found that diabetes aged people's minds five years faster than average. In order to assist in diagnosing people with the disease, she co-developed a method to use A1C as a diagnostic tool for diabetes. When asked about the process, she said "the current evidence supports similar interpretation of A1C test results in black and white populations for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. Pragmatically, we can use a combination of fasting glucose and A1C to diagnose diabetes while paying attention to any discordance." In 2018, Selvin published a paper in the journal ''

Annals of Internal Medicine ''Annals of Internal Medicine'' is an academic medical journal published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world. ''Annals'' publishes content relevan ...

'' titled "Prognostic Implications of Single-Sample Confirmatory Testing for Undiagnosed Diabetes: A Prospective Cohort Study," which led to revised clinical guidelines by the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes (including type 1 diabetes, ...

. Her study found that type 1 and type 2 diabetes could be diagnosed using a single blood sample, instead of two separate ones. In 2020, Selvin was the recipient of the

Kelly West Award The Kelly M. West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology is an honor bestowed by the American Diabetes Association. It has been awarded annually to an individual since 1986. The award is named in honor of Kelly M. West. Winners Sou ...

from the American Diabetes Association in recognition of her "significant contributions to the field of diabetes epidemiology."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selvin, Elizabeth Living people 1977 births American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists 21st-century American women scientists Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni University of Michigan School of Public Health alumni Northwestern University alumni Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty