Charles “Chuck” Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of the American Diabetes Association® (ADA), welcomed researchers, scientists, and other professionals dedicated to advancing the vision for a world free of diabetes to the 85^th Scientific Sessions in Chicago on Friday morning, June 20.

During Welcome to the 85th ADA Scientific Sessions—Keynote Address and Panel Discussion, Mr. Henderson shared highlights from key ADA initiatives in several focus areas, including health access, nutrition and wellness, obesity, and primary and collaborative care, across the four core pillars of the ADA’s mission—research, advocacy, education, and connection.

“Our goal for health access is to be the voice for people in resource-limited communities who are impacted by diabetes,” Mr. Henderson said, adding that this is achieved by tailoring outreach, improving access to education and resources, and “most importantly, fostering trust.”

He said that the ADA’s goal is to be recognized as the trusted authority in translating the nutrition and wellness consensus statement into practice.

“We all know that obesity is an epidemic, with more than two in five U.S. adults living with obesity,” he pointed out. Obesity accounts for up to 53% of new cases of type 2 diabetes annually.

In continuation of the ADA’s efforts to destigmatize obesity and promote its treatment as a chronic disease, the Obesity Association^TM, a division of the ADA,  has developed initial chapters on the Standards of Care in Overweight and Obesity that focus on how health care professionals can address weight stigma and bias with their patients. Mr. Henderson said subsequent chapters, on the ADA’s recommendations for care and treatment for people living with obesity and overweight, will be published soon.

The formation of the Obesity Association was announced at the 84^th Scientific Sessions.

As most individuals with diabetes receive care from their primary care team, the ADA is seeking to unify approaches to care through the Primary Care Council, a collaboration between the ADA and six other primary care-focused clinical associations, and foster innovation through the Diabetes Primary Care Alliance, a growing national network of almost 2,000 primary care practices.

Osagie Ebekozien, MD, MPH, the first-ever Chief Quality Officer of the ADA, underscored the philosophy driving these initiatives in his keynote lecture during the welcome session, “From Standards of Care to Standards of Practice.”  He also spoke about his deep, personal connection with diabetes, from having lost his grandmother to diabetes complications to his wife’s diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, as the foundation for his passion for moving the Standards of Care in Diabetes (Standards of Care) into routine practice.

Dr. Ebekozien highlighted how the ADA’s Standards of Care have evolved over 35 years, from a three-page document at its first iteration, published in 1997, to 350 pages representing more than 600 specific recommendations in its 2025 version.

“While our standards and guidelines have evolved significantly, mortality and complications from diabetes have improved, but not at the same pace,” Dr. Ebekozien noted. “We still lose a lot of grandmothers, uncles, aunties, little ones to diabetes.”

The pace of the improvements in diabetes-associated mortality does not match the pace of current scientific endeavors, he added. Moreover, there are gaps in diabetes care, by ethnicity, race, ZIP code, and health insurance coverage.

Another challenge is the enormous cost of managing diabetes, with direct and indirect costs associated with diabetes estimated to cost the U.S. health care system more than $400 billion annually.

Dr. Ebekozien said that multiple factors that contribute to the gap between diabetes science and the patient experience need to be addressed. To this end, the ADA is prioritizing not just cutting-edge research and evidence-based guidelines, but also strategies to close care gaps. Dr. Ebekozien spoke about the importance of supporting individuals living with diabetes and obesity across the systems wherever they receive care, in primary care, in specialty care, in communities, and at home.

Recognizing the importance of improving the quality of routine diabetes care, the ADA has included a “bold recommendation” emphasizing quality improvement initiatives and interprofessional teams in the ADA’s Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025. Dr. Ebekozien encouraged attendees to adopt these quality improvement recommendations, integrating them into their local diabetes care models.

The welcome session ended with a panel discussion featuring Dr. Ebekozien and several ADA leaders, including Lisa Murdock, Chief Advocacy Officer; Nuha El Sayed, MD, MMSc, Senior Vice President of Health Care Improvement and Interim Chief Scientific and Medical Officer; Raveendhara Bannuru, MD, PhD, FAGE, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Methodologist for the ADA’s Standards of Care; and Samar Hafida, MD, Vice President of the Obesity Association.

On-demand access to recorded presentations from the 85^th Scientific Session will be available to registered participants following the conclusion of the meeting in Chicago, from June 25–August 25.