Dr. Lois Jovanovic reviews medical content for Healthwise, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. Dr. Jovanovic is an internist specializing in endocrinology and metabolism. She became CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara, California, in 1996. She is a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Southern California-Keck School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Biomolecular Science and Engineering at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Dr. Jovanovic received her undergraduate degrees from Columbia University and from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She completed her MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and her received training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the Cornell University Medical College.

Dr. Jovanovic has been actively involved in research for many years. She was Principal Investigator of the Cornell University Medical College Program for both the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and the Diabetes in Early Pregnancy Study. She also developed the Diabetes and Pregnancy Program and protocols of intensive insulin delivery, which became the basis for many of the systems of insulin delivery today. Her work in the field of diabetes and pregnancy has become the mainstay of therapy for all pregnant women with diabetes, and the protocols she developed have increased the chances of pregnant women with diabetes having a healthy infant from only 20% to the same chances as women who don't have diabetes.

When Dr. Jovanovic moved to the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara, it offered her the opportunity to create cost-effective intensive care programs for the medically underserved populations as a pilot program for the Medi-Cal Programs in the State of California. She is on the Special Task Force for Diabetes and Obesity for the State of California and is the Chair of the University of California-Santa Barbara Embryonic Stem Cell Oversight Committee.

Dr. Jovanovic has authored over 240 articles, including 135 for refereed journals, and 25 books on the topic of diabetes and pregnancy and islet cell transplantation. She serves as an Associated Editor of Diabetes Care and is on the editorial boards of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the American Journal of Perinatology and is a contributing editor for the Journal of the American College of Nutrition and special editor for Endocrine Practice, the official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. In addition, Dr. Jovanovic serves on the national board of directors of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Board Certifications

American Board of Internal Medicine

ABIM Subspecialty Board, Endocrinology

Healthwise Knowledgebase Topics Reviewed

Gestational Diabetes

Education

M.D.: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, 1973

Internship in Internal Medicine, New York Hospital, Cornell Medical University Medical College, 1973–1974

Junior Resident in Internal Medicine, New York Hospital, Cornell Medical University Medical College, 1974–1975

Senior Resident in Internal Medicine, New York Hospital, Cornell Medical University Medical College, 1975–1976

Research Fellow in Endocrinology and Metabolism, Cornell University Medical College, 1976–1978

Awards and Honors

• Norbert Freinkel Award for Scholarship in the Field of Diabetes and Pregnancy, American Diabetes Association, 2001
• Robert and Ray Kroc Lecturer, Uppsala, Sweden, 2002
• Women’s Economic Ventures, Business Women of the Year Awards: Professional Services, 2002
• March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award to Honor Distinguished Achievement in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition, 2003
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine Distinguished Alumnae Award, Year 2003
• Robert and Ray Kroc Lectureship, Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, 2004
• Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics Community Hero, 2005
• Josiah Lilly Award, American Diabetes Association, 2006
• Jorgen Pedersen Medal for Excellence in Diabetes and Pregnancy, Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, 2007

Financial Disclosure

This reviewer currently receives grants for research and is on the Advisory Boards of:

• Eli Lilly
• Novo-Nordisk
• Pfizer
• Mannkind
• Roche Pharmaceutical
• LifeScan
• Sensys
• DexCom