Prof. Dr. Lois Jovanovic

Lois Jovanovic, MD, FACE
Clinical Professor of Medicine
CEO and Chief Scientific Officer
Sansum Diabetes Research Institute
University of Southern California-Keck School of Medicine
Adjunt Professor of Biomolecular Science and Engineering
University of California-Santa Barbara

In addition to her position as CEO & Chief Scientific Officer of Sansum Medical Research Institute, Dr. Jovanovic is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California-Los Angeles Medical Center; Faculty in Internal Medicine, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital; Attending Physician, The Santa Barbara County Diabetes/Endocrine Clinic; and Adjunct Professor, Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program, University of California, Santa Barbara.Dr. Jovanovic received her undergraduate degrees in Biology from Columbia University and Hebrew Literature from The Jewish Theological Seminary, both located in New York, New York. She also earned a Master’s degree in Hebrew literature from The Jewish Theological Seminary. Dr. Jovanovic received her MD degree from The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. Her Internal Medicine training and fellowship in Endocrinology were served at the New York Hospital of Cornell University Medical College. Since then Dr. Jovanovic has had numerous clinical and academic appointments including positions at Rockefeller University, Cornell University, University of California, the University of Southern California, and at the University of Barcelona in Spain.

Among the honors earned by Dr. Jovanovic are the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Outstanding Physician Clinician Award and the ADA Norbert Freinkel Award for Scholarship in the Field of Diabetes and Pregnancy, The Clintec Award for Excellence in Clinical Nutrition from The American College of Nutrition, and The Roche Diagnostics/The Zitter Group Diabetes Disease Management Leadership Award. In addition she received The Robert and Ray Kroc Award for Excellence in Diabetology, Uppsala, Sweden, 2002. In 2003 she received The March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award to Honor Distinguished Achievement in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition and The Albert Einstein College of Medicine Distinguished Alumnae Award. This year she was honored as the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics Health Hero and the Louis Izenstein Award for Excellence in Diabetes Care from Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University.

Dr. Jovanovic has been a member of The American Diabetes Association for over two decades. She was Chair of the ADA Pregnancy Council, Editor-in-Chief of the ADA books, What to Expect When Expecting, The Management of The Pregnant Diabetic Woman, and contributor of chapters in numerous ADA books on diabetes and pregnancy, exercise, nutrition and type 1 diabetes. Dr. Jovanovic was President of the California Affiliate of the American Diabetes Association and then as the ADA reorganized became a Board member of the ADA Western Region. She served on The National Board of Directors of the ADA and currently is an Associate Editor of the American Diabetes Association journal, Diabetes Care. Dr. Jovanovic is the recipient of many ADA sponsored grants; most recently she has been awarded a clinical research grant entitled “Pregnancy as a model for rejuvenation of pancreatic beta-cell function”.

In addition, Dr. Jovanovic is currently on The National Board of The American College of Clinical Endocrinology and the National Board of The Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Dr. Jovanovic has published over 250 articles in the fields of diabetes, nutrition, obstetrics, gynecology, and perinatology. She currently is working on “closing the loop” with two NIH grants for the study of insulin algorithms that incorporate the continuous glucose monitoring of an intravascular glucose sensor to regulate the insulin infusion of an implanted, continuous insulin pump. This technology will eventually serve as an artificial beta-cell and thus ease the lives of people with type 1 diabetes.