Gretchen Youssef, MS, RD, CDE is the Program Manager of the MedStar Diabetes Institute of MedStar Health.  Ms. Youssef is responsible for integrating diabetes clinical, research and education across a 7 hospital healthcare system in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD.  She is responsible for the coordination of MedStar’s seven American Diabetes Association Diabetes Self-Management recognized programs.  As an advocate of persons with diabetes, she has set up a Diabetes Learning Center at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in the District of Columbia, which has improved access to diabetes education and resources to the African American residents.  Prior to this position Ms. Youssef was the Program Manager of Diabetes Prevention Program at the MedStar Research Institute site located on Capitol Hill and worked on several national DPP Committees.  She is an active member of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, American Diabetes Association and the District’s Diabetes Advisory Board.  As a diabetes educator and researcher for the past 14 years she has extensive experience in lifestyle change, diabetes education, and program development.