Elizabeth R. Seaquist MD
Nesbitt Chair and Head, Department of Medicine; Associate Dean for Medical Specialties and Primary Care; Co-Director, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MinnesotaDr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Seaquist is the Nesbit Chair and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She also serves as the Associate Dean for Medical Specialties and Primary Care and the Co-Director of the Institute of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism. Improving the lives of people with diabetes through research and clinical practice and training the next generation of investigators in the areas of diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism have been her professional goals for three decades. Her independent research has focused on defining how diabetes and treatment associated hypoglycemia alters brain metabolism, structure, and function. She also has performed translational experiments designed to prevent and treat impaired awareness of hypoglycemia in diabetes and served as site PI for the NIH funded Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD), Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness (GRADE) Study, the Diabetes and Periodontal Disease Trial (DPTT), and the industry funded cardiovascular safety trial of dulaglutide (REWIND). She has directly supported the career development of more than 45 students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty over the course of her career and was given the Albert Renold Award by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for outstanding mentorship in 2020. The 2014 President of Medicine and Science of the ADA, she was also awarded the inaugural Lois Jovanovich Transformative Women in Diabetes Award in 2019. She was inducted into the American Association of Professors in 2022 and maintains a clinical practice in diabetes and endocrinology.