MINNEAPOLIS, November 21, 2008—The Minnesota Department of Health has announced that the fifth annual Bruce Zimmerman Award for work with diabetes in Minnesota has gone to Richard M. Bergenstal, M.D.

Bergenstal, a longtime member of the MMA, is executive director of the International Diabetes Center (IDC) at Park Nicollet Health Services and adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.  He is co-author of "Staged Diabetes Management," a key program of the IDC that has been implemented in organizations around the world, resulting in improved diabetes-related health outcomes.

Bergenstal was the first chairperson of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement's Type 2 Diabetes Guideline Committee, and continues to serve as a member of that body. He currently serves as vice president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and sits on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Chapter Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. 

The award was presented to Bergenstal October 31 by the Minnesota Diabetes Steering Committee and the diabetes program at MDH. The award ceremony was held at the Many Faces of Community Health Conference in the Twin Cities.

The award was created in honor of Bruce Zimmerman, M.D., an internationally known diabetes expert and endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, who was president of the American Diabetes Association for 1999-2000.