HU Professor says early identification is key to managing diabetes

Dr. David Ombengi

HU Professor says early identification is key to managing diabetes 

Hampton University School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Dr. David Ombengi recently hosted a lecture on diabetes. The talk, “Stopping Diabetes Starts Now” was in line with the national observance of November as American Diabetes Month.

The purpose of the talk was to shed light on the disease and its manageability, said Ombengi, of his address to an audience of approximately 40 inside the Scripps Howard auditorium.

“I wanted to create awareness among the participants that people with diabetes can live a healthy and productive life if identified early, and effectively managed by lifestyle modifications and appropriate drug therapy,” he said.

Ombengi’s work at HU involves this type of healthcare delivery and economic analysis. Among other courses, Ombengi coordinates and teaches cardiovascular, pulmonary and endocrine portions of Drug and Disease Management, and Health Care Administration I and II. He also serves as Clinical Faculty and Preceptor for the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) in Ambulatory Care at the Community Free Clinic of Newport News, where he also provides Medication Therapy Management (MTM) to patients at the clinic. His research interests include evaluating health outcomes of treatments used in cardio-pulmonary disorders, diabetes and other chronic disease with a focus on strategies to eliminate health disparities.

According to the American Diabetes Association website, nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes, and compared to the general population, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes, with 4.9 million, or 18.7 percent of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes.

The latter statistic makes HU a good environment to facilitate this type of work, Ombengi said.

“Considering that diabetes is more prevalent in the minority population, we at HU can take proactive steps to stop the devastating clinical, humanistic and economic impact due to complications of diabetes through health literacy campaigns one person at a time,” he said.

-Leha Byrd