Chairs and Speakers – U

Dr. Umpierrez is a professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, and the President of the American Diabetes Association for Medicine and Science.  He has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards for Best Clinical Teacher and Mentor at Emory University, and national awards from the American College of Physicians, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Endocrine Society, Diabetes Technology Society, and the American Diabetes Association. His research interests include mechanisms for beta-cell dysfunction in minority populations, prevention of acute and chronic diabetic complications, and hospital management of patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia. He is the author of more than 400 scientific manuscripts and book chapters, and has presented over 300 research abstracts at national and international scientific meetings. In addition, he is the director of the Emory Latino Diabetes Education Program, a nationally accredited Spanish Diabetes education program dedicated to providing diabetes education to Latinos.

Professor Omar Usmani is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), Imperial College London and Consultant Physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital London. He is currently Head of the ERS (European Respiratory Society) Assembly 5 Airway Diseases. His clinical research themes are Inhaled Drug Delivery, Airways Physiology, Lung Imaging and Biomarkers, and Digital E-health. He was co-investigator and lead Clinical PI, on an EU HORIZON 2020 grant, myaircoach, to investigate the role of E-health in asthma self-management. In 2015, he received one of the highest accolades in inhaled aerosol science, the Thomas T Mercer Award from the American Association of Aerosol Research (AAAR) and ISAM, recognizing his international research excellence in pharmaceutical aerosols and inhalable materials.