Cardiometabolic ECHO Project

ADULT ENDOCRINOLOGY
University of Washington
Dr. Nicole Ehrhardt is the lead for the UW Diabetes ECHO. She has served many roles in the clinical setting: hospitalist, staff endocrinologist, core faculty member of an endocrine training program, 16 years as an army doctor, and over 10 years of experience in diabetes and obesity.
A board-certified endocrinologist and certified diabetes prevention trainer, she has participated in training of health professionals including students, medical residents and fellows, and mid level practitioners throughout her career. She has been the project lead for a Diabetes ECHO program at George Washington University prior to joining the University of Washington Faculty in July 2020. She was also an invited panelist for Stanford’s Diabetes in the time of COVID series.
Areas of expertise: Diabetes, Endocrinology, Telehealth Services

ADULT ENDOCRINOLOGY
University of Washington
Dr. Wright is a board-certified physician with the UWMDI at South Lake Union, the Endocrine/Diabetes Clinic at Harborview and a UW assistant professor of Medicine and Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition. She is also a member of the UW Medicine Diversity Council. She is passionate about decreasing healthcare disparities and increasing awareness on diversity, equity and inclusion in medical education and health care. She is convinced that treatment success is the result of education, motivation, team-work and diligence. Providing care that is culturally sensitive is important to success.
Areas of expertise: Diabetes, Endocrinology

CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
University of Washington
Dr. Montour is a dual board-certified family physician in both Canada and the USA. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and she is also a Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. She has been a family doctor for over 13 years, and she is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington. She sees patients at the University of Washington Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery. Her clinical interests include medical weight management and care of bariatric surgical patients. Dr. Montour is a member of the American Academy of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), and she serves on the ASMBS Washington State Chapter as a member-at-large. She is also a member of the Early Career Committee with The Obesity Society and she serves on the Bariatric Medical-Surgical Committee with the Obesity Medicine Association. Dr. Montour is a First Nations Mohawk woman from the Six Nations Reserve. Growing up in Canada on the Six Nations reserve she has witnessed the impacts of Obesity and Diabetes within her community. It is through these personal experiences that Dr. Montour has now dedicated her career to the prevention and treatment of the disease of Obesity and its comorbidities.
Areas of expertise: Diabetes, lipids, endocrinology, telehealth services

ADULT ENDOCRINOLOGY
University of Washington
Dr. Subramanian is a board-certified physician at UWMDI at South Lake Union and the Endocrinology/Diabetes Clinic and Lipid Clinic Northwest at Harborview and a UW assistant professor of Medicine and Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition.
Dr. Subramanian cares for patients with endocrine disorders. She firmly believes in establishing close relationships with patients, particularly those with chronic diseases like diabetes and other hormonal disorders, including timely and clear communication, educating patients and listening closely to their concerns. Her primary focus is prevention. Dr. Subramanian was also an invited panelist for Stanford Diabetes in the time of COVID series.
Areas of expertise: Diabetes, lipids, endocrinology, telehealth services

CARDIOLOGY
University of Washington
Dr. Branch is a Professor in Cardiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Dr. Branch is also a clinical general cardiologist with a research focus on clinical trials and advanced cardiac imaging. His research support included the NIH KL2 Mentored Training Grant and is currently supported by grants from the NIH and clinical trials. He is Associate Director of the Clinical Trials Service Unit, which facilitates international clinical trials, and is Director of Cardiovascular Clinical Trials Unit. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Society of Cardiovascular CT and on the Editorial Board of European Radiology. Other awards include the American College of Cardiology/Merck Fellowship Award, the Cardiology Teaching Excellence Award, the University of Washington School of Medicine Outstanding CME Teacher, and the ACC Emerging Faculty Award. Dr. Branch was recently nominated for the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award.

ECHO PROJECT COORDINATOR
University of Washington

GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE, BARIATRIC MEDICINE
Director of the Wharton Medical Clinic
Dr. Wharton has his doctorate in Pharmacy and Medicine at the University of Toronto.  He is the medical director of the Wharton Medical Clinic, a community based internal medicine weight management and diabetes clinic. He is an adjunct professor at McMaster University in Hamilton and York University in Toronto. He also academic staff at Women’s College Hospital, and clinical staff the Hamilton Health Sciences. Dr. Wharton’s research focuses on bariatric medicine and type 2 diabetes. He is the co-lead authour of the Canadian Obesity Guidelines
Dr. Wharton is involved activism to achieve health equity in Canada. He founded the BMSA (Black Medical Students Association) at the University of Toronto in 2000. The BMSA is now a recognized mentorship organization across Canada.
Areas of expertise: obesity medicine

ADULT ENDOCRINOLOGIST
University of Washington
Dr. Hirsch is a board certified physician at the Endocrine and Diabetes Care Center at UWMC-Roosevelt, the UW’s Diabetes Treatment and Teaching Chair and a UW professor of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition.
Dr. Hirsch’s career has focused on studying the best strategies for the use of insulin therapy and innovations in technology for diabetes management.
Dr. Hirsch earned his M.D. at the University of Missouri. He is the former chair of the Professional Practice Committee for the American Diabetes Association, and a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has authored over 170 papers, numerous book chapters and six books both for patients and physicians and is section editor for Up-to-Date. He received the American Diabetes Association’s Josiah K. Lilly Sr. Distinguished Service Award and was elected to a Mastership by the American College of Physicians.
Areas of expertise: Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Internal Medicine

ADULT ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Anne Arundel Medical Center
Dr. Onumah is a leading endocrinologist in the greater Annapolis region. She practices general endocrinology with special interest in insulin resistance and diabetes. She collaborates with primary care and other referring providers on comprehensive and integrated treatment for patients with diabetes and endocrine disorders. Dr. Onumah has extensive teaching background, including prior faculty position at Washington Hospital Center Endocrine Training program. She is a clinical researcher with particular interest in the area of diabetes, working hard to bring today’s most advanced treatments and technologies to her patients. Dr. Onumah actively participates in the scientific organizations in her field, including the Endocrine Society and American Diabetes Association.

ADULT ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Chief of Endocrinology
Director of Diabetes Treatment Center, Howard University
Dr. Nunlee-Bland is is Chief of Endocrinology and Director of the Diabetes Treatment Center at Howard University Hospital. She is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine. Dr. Nunlee-Bland is a graduate of Howard University College of Medicine.
Dr. Nunlee-Bland has received several grants to explore the use of technology to improve diabetes outcomes and patient engagement in underserved minority communities in Washington, DC. She was the recipient of the 2010 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist – Outstanding Endocrine Service to Minority Communities Award.
Dr. Nunlee-Bland is passionate about improving access to quality diabetes care. This passion has translated into the American Diabetes Association Recognized Diabetes education program. The Diabetes Treatment Center is a resource for patients and practitioners to have access to the expertise of nutritionists, diabetes educators, and diabetes specialists.
Areas of expertise: Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolic bone disease, Osteoporosis, Pituitary disorders, Thyroid Disorders

NEPHROLOGY
University of Washington
Dr. Arora is a board certified Nephrologist and Internist at the University of Washington. His clinical roles include specializing in the care of patients with cardiorenal syndrome as well as serving as the clinical lead of the diabetic kidney disease clinic.
Outside of his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Arora is involved in multiple educational endeavors, both traditionally and via digital education, as well as clinical research to improve the care of both patients with heart failure, as well as diabetic kidney disease.
Areas of expertise: Nephrology, diabetic kidney disease, cardiorenal syndrome

Christos Argyropoulos MD, PhD, FASN is an Associate Professor with Tenure, the Division Chief of Nephrology at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Centre (UNM HSC). He is also the Medical Lead for Participant Clinical Interaction unit, that group of research coordinators that executes the NIH trials at UNM’s Clinical and Translational Science Centre and a long-standing member of the School of Medicine and UNM HSC’s Conflict of Interest Committees. He received his medical and doctorate degrees from the University of Patras in Greece. He did his Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati and trained in Nephrology and Transplant Nephrology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre. As a clinical researcher, he has supervised large observational studies in late phase drug development, clinical epidemiology and large database studies. He is a clinical trialist with over 8 years experience in Phase 3 trials for investigational compounds in chronic kidney disease and diabetes. His research interests evolve around the understanding of the mechanisms of human kidney disease through the development of methods for the analyses of complex biomedical data from molecules to hundreds of thousands of patients. More recently, his research has focused on the discovery of RNA biomarkers for chronic kidney disease associated with diabetes and the development of point of care diagnostics based on portable RNA sequencing devices. While clinically active as a general and transplant Nephrologist, his clinical interest largely concerns the intersection of diabetes with Chronic Kidney Disease. He is the Medical Lead for the Nephrology Clinic at UNM’s Comprehensive Diabetes Care Centre, and the physician supervisor of the clinician pharmacist led clinic for patients with diabetes and kidney disease and transplant recipients. He has been one of the early adopters of the SGLT2 inhibitors which he has heavily promoted since their off label use days in Social Media under the twitter hashtag #flozination. Dr Argyropoulos along with Professor Amy Mottl from UNC have been leading the American Society of Nephrology’s Diabetic Kidney Disease Educational module. He has written numerous editorials about the utilization of SGLT2 inhibitors in clinical practice, and “tweetorials”, connected series of tweets for Medical and Provider education initiatives.

Sandra Christensen is a board-certified nurse practitioner and has specialized in obesity treatment since 2005. She owns Integrative Medical Weight Management, in Seattle, Washington and holds the Certificate of Advanced Education in Obesity Medicine from the Obesity Medicine Association. She serves as a trustee on the Obesity Medicine Association Board of Trustees.
Ms. Christensen speaks on the topic of obesity at international, national, state, and local conferences and webinars and is involved in projects and initiatives that educate clinicians about obesity treatment and advocate for access to care. She writes on the topic of obesity and is the author of “A Clinician’s Guide to Discussing Obesity with Patients” published by Springer Nature Switzerland. She is an Associate Editor of Obesity Pillars, the journal of the Obesity Medicine Association, and is a co-author of four Clinical Practice Statements published in that journal. She is also a contributing author of the OMA Obesity Algorithm.
Ms. Christensen has dedicated herself to educating others about the complexities of obesity. Through clinical practice, speaking, writing, mentoring, and advocacy, she empowers clinicians to address obesity with knowledge and compassion.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
University of Washington

CDE DIETICIAN
University of Washington
Alison Evert, MS RD CDE, is the Manager, of Nutrition and Diabetes Education Programs for the University of Washington Neighborhood Clinics, 15 primary care clinics in Seattle, Washington, USA. Alison is also teamed with an UW Medicine endocrinologist leading a diabetes health initiative for their health-system. The goal of the initiative is to identify opportunities for diabetes care and education by assisting primary care providers and their staff to improve treatment outcomes, patient empowerment and well-being. Prior to these positions, Alison was employed at the University of Washington Medical Center's Diabetes Care Center where she was part of their multi-disciplinary diabetes team and coordinated their diabetes education programs. Alison has worked in a variety of practice settings both in- and out-patient as well as with a pediatric endocrinologist in private practice. Alison has served as presenter and guest lecturer in areas of diabetes nutrition and diabetes technology for health care professionals, students and consumers. She has also served as an author and editor for multiple publications and developed patient education materials for the American Diabetes Association and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Alison served as the co-chair of the ADA’s Nutrition Therapy for Adults with Diabetes and Pre-diabetes: Consensus Report published in the Spring of 2019.

PSYCHIATRIST
University of Washington
Paul S. Ciechanowski, M.D., M.P.H. is a psychiatrist who cares for individuals with diabetes who are experiencing behavioral health issues like depression, anxiety and self-management. He is also a UW associate professor. Before pursuing psychiatry, Dr. Paul was a family doctor in Canada. He uses a team-based approach to address the whole person by focusing on biological, psychological, interpersonal and functional areas of a person’s life. Dr. Paul earned his M.D. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and subsequently received training in family medicine (University of British Columbia), psychiatry (UW), and public health (UW). He is past president of the Washington State Community Leadership Board for the American Diabetes Association. He has conducted NIH/CDC research for two decades in attachment theory and in developing effective models of team-based care for diabetes and depression. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
Areas of expertise: Diabetes, Psychiatry, Telehealth

REGISTERED DIETICIAN
University of Washington
Karen Munger, M.S., R.D., C.D., C.D.E., B.C.-A.D.M. is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Kidney Stone Center at UW Medical Center and Northwest Endocrinology. Munger has a special interest in weight loss counseling and 20 years of experience in nutrition counseling and a longer history of exercise counseling. She focuses on integrating the science of nutrition with patients’ needs and lives, knowing that if the change is too severe, no change will happen. She also feels it is important to keep up on the latest research and reads a little every day to improve her own knowledge base. Munger earned her M.S. from the UW. She is a member of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.
Areas of expertise: Nutrition and Diet

University of Washington
Katherine Scott Davis is the Assistant Director of Social Work and BHIP for UW Medicine Primary Care. She is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. She received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Washington, School of Social Work. She holds an ESA certification in School Social Work. Her education is bolstered by specialized leadership training, including completing the Supervisor’s Academy at Sacramento State. She is also certified in a variety of evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy models.
Katherine has an extensive leadership background overseeing complex behavioral health systems. Her experience encompasses a wide range of settings serving diverse populations, from perinatal substance abuse treatment services to outpatient and residential services supporting the chronically mentally ill. Passionate about the provision of whole-person care, she has implemented and managed behavioral health integrated services for over a decade.
Katherine is a champion for the empowerment of marginalized communities. She has engaged in various arenas to address the specific needs of affected groups and advocate for resources and opportunities that promote equality. She is particularly involved in efforts related to employment, housing, and criminal justice. Katherine is committed to addressing social justice issues and the forward movement of disenfranchised populations.

Dr. Moss is a pediatric psychologist who specializes in assessment, consultation, evidence-based treatment for children, adolescents, and young adults with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. Areas of expertise include adjustment to and coping with chronic illness (new onset diagnosis, diabetes burnout and distress), adherence to medical regimens and health promoting behaviors, fears and anxiety related to diabetes (fear of needles, high or low blood sugar, complications), and family conflict/shared management of diabetes.
Dr. Moss received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University, where her research focused on child and family relationships and psychosocial and cognitive functioning in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. She completed her internship in child clinical psychology at Children’s Minnesota (formerly Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota). Dr. Moss completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she received comprehensive training in the behavioral healthcare of children, adolescents and young adults with cancer and blood disorders, and delivering evidence-based interventions for children with anxiety disorders.