ASU prof to receive award for service to an underserved population

Gabriel Q. Shaibi, an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Southwest Borderlands Scholar, and director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Arizona State University will receive the 2016 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’ (AACE) Outstanding Service Award for the Promotion of Endocrine Health of an Underserved Population.

The AACE Outstanding Service Award is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to the endocrine health and service to an underserved population in the U.S. or abroad, via leadership, long-term commitment, vision innovation and impact.

"It is a true honor and professional highlight to be recognized by AACE for work in the areas of health promotion and endocrine-related disease prevention,” said Shaibi. “This award is a tribute to the many mentors, collaborators, and community partners whom I have had the privilege of working with to promote health equity among vulnerable and underserved populations.”

For the past 10 years, Shaibi’s research has focused on understanding and preventing obesity-related health disparities among Latino youth and families. His work spans the translational spectrum from basic science to health promotion policy, where he works closely with a transdisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, and community partners to improve health equity among vulnerable and underserved populations.

He has published more than 65 peer-reviewed publications stemming from more than $15 million in extramural research funding and recently was awarded a five-year, $3.1 million research project grant from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to test the efficacy of a community-based diabetes prevention program for obese Latino youth with prediabetes.

In addition to his own work, Shaibi is the director of Research for the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and he serves as co-investigator on an National Institue of Health-funded project focused on transdisciplinary taining in health disparities science.