Desmond Schatz, MD is Professor and Interim Chair of Pediatrics, Medical Director of the Diabetes Institute and Director of the Clinical Research Center within the CTSI at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He served as President of Science and Medicine of the American Diabetes Association in 2016. Dr. Schatz has been involved in Type 1 diabetes research since the mid 1980’s and has published over 400 manuscripts, the majority related to the prediction, natural history, genetics, immunopathogenesis and prevention of the disease, as well as the management of children and adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes. He has been continuously funded on externally peer reviewed grants from the NIH, JDRF, Industry and Foundations. He was awarded the Mary Tyler Moore and S Robert Levine JDRF Excellence in Clinical Research Award in 2008, the prestigious Banting Medal for service from the American Diabetes Association in 2016 and the ISPAD Prize for achievement (the highest honor of the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes) also in 2016. Recently he received the 2020 ACE Alan J. Garber, MD, PhD, FACE Award, and was the 2020 recipient of the University of Florida College of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award for distinguished service in patient care, education, research and leadership, and most recently the prestigious George Eisenbarth Award from the JDRF in 2021 for efforts aimed at the prevention of Type 1 Diabetes