Elizabeth A. Walker

Elizabeth Arquin Walker is an American diabetes nurse scientist who is emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her research considers how people with diabetes may better manage their disease. In 2000 she served as the President of the American Diabetes Association. She is a Fellow of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Early life and education Walker earned her bachelor's degree at Chestnut Hill College. She moved to South Bend, Indiana for her graduate studies, where she earned a master's degree at the University of Notre Dame. She moved to Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska for a bachelor's degree in nursing. After graduating, Walker worked as a nurse in the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She has shown that regular telephone counselling can serve as a high impact, low cost tool to lower blood sugar in adults with uncontrolled diabetes. Unfortunately, printed self management tools are not sufficient to improve the control of diabetes. The centre has a particular focus on the health of people from low-income communities and marginalised ethnic groups. Whilst Walker initially focused on diabetes control in New York City, she soon added a focus on global health, with a particular focus on Uganda.

Walker was funded by the NIH to study the Power Up for Health lifestyle intervention program which looked to prevent diabetes in high-risk men of color. The program was offered in recreation centers across New York City and delivered by multi-lingual men lifestyle coaches. Over the sixteen week intervention, intervention participants experienced minimal weight loss, but some improvement in healthy eating and fewer depressive symptoms.

Awards and honors Walker was elected President of the American Diabetes Association in 1999. She was awarded the Creighton University Alumni Merit Award in 2002.

Selected publications