Prof. E. Albert Reece for diabetes conference

The first in a series of annual lectures named for Professor E. Albert Reece will be presented at the 23rd Annual International Diabetes Conference, scheduled to take place at the Jewel Resort, St Ann's Bay, tomorrow at 3 pm. The distinguished lecture, titled 'Diabetes: A public health Challenge', will be presented by Dr Sonia Copeland, public health practitioner and coordinator of the public health programme of Northern Caribbean University.

Dr E. Albert Reece is vice-president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and dean of the School of Medicine. He is also the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. He is a member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.

In addition, Dr Reece is a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences; Internal Medicine, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and oversees an active multimillion-dollar NIH-funded research programme. His laboratory studies the biologic/molecular causes and consequences of diabetes-induced birth defects, and is currently developing experimental methods for preventing such birth defects. He has over 500 publications.

A native of Jamaica, Dr Reece received a Bachelor of Science degree with honours (Magna cum laude) from Long Island University and an MD degree from New York University School of Medicine, United States. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynaecology at Columbia University Medical Center, and a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition, he has a PhD degree in biochemistry from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and an MBA degree from the Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Yale faculty for almost 10 years before being recruited to serve as the Abraham Roth Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Temple University School of Medicine. Prior to joining the University of Maryland School Of Medicine, he served as vice-chancellor and dean of the University of Arkansas College of Medicine.

He is a member of numerous professional and other organisations and has received an array of awards, including awards from Jamaica - one for dedicated service and support to the University of the West Indies Diabetes Outreach Project (2004) and the Honoris Causa Northern Caribbean University doctorate of science degree in 2016.