Tom Karlya

Senior Vice President Diabetes Research Institute Foundation Advocate/Founder/Author www.DiabetesDad.org

Tom has been active in diabetes causes for over 30 years. He has lectured in the US and abroad speaking about his journey as a “diabetesdad”, his pen-name very familiar to families in the diabetes world and has also been published and quoted in numerous publications. His advocacy regarding the missed diagnosed of T1D led him to one of the first laws passed in the United States and a national awareness movement that continues to this day. He is also the Co-Creator/founder of www.GetDiabetesRight.org, a 100-million visited site dedicated to supplying communities with information about the warning signs of diabetes, which he created with a diabetes mom, Kim May.   He has also advocated tirelessly on lowering the cost of insulin, as well as many other initiatives important to those living with diabetes.  Before he was in the ‘diabetes world’, he was an actor on Broadway, TV, Movies, and commercials.  “All my life, I only wanted to be an actor—-and yet, it was my entry into the diabetes world that I would be nominated for an Emmy Award, go figure!”