DiabetesSisters Board of Directors

Brandy Barnes, MSW (President) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in January 1990. She received her Master’s of Social Work with a concentration in Health Settings from UNC Chapel Hill. Mrs. Barnes gained clinical research experience in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes at the UNC Diabetes Care Center. She also gained experience in nonprofit management from her work as a Marketing Manager with the American Cancer Society and extensive sales and marketing experience from six years spent working in diabetes medication sales as an Executive Sales Professional. Since 2002, she has served as a Member of the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council.

John Buse, MD, PhD (Board Member) is a former President of the Medicine & Science Division of the American Diabetes Association (2008). He is also the Chief of the Endocrinology Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Buse is a former Associate Editor of Diabetes Care and Clinical Diabetes. He is also the Vice-Chair of the National Health Institutes’ (NIH’s), largest diabetes study ever, called the ACCORD Trial. He is also an active clinician with a UNC-based diabetes practice in Chapel Hill, NC.

Chetan Kundavaram (Treasurer) received his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and his master's degree in Engineering Management from Duke Univeristy.  He currently works as a Business Consultant at Cisco Systems in Morrisville, NC.  His passion for helping people with diabetes is the result of his own experience with family members who are living with the disease. 

Jan Nicollerat, MSN, ACNS-BC, ADM-BC, CDE (Board Member) is an Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist and the Director of Duke University’s Adult Diabetes Education Program. She holds certification in Advanced Diabetes Management and as a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE).  As an advanced practice nurse, her clinical practice focuses on management of patients with diabetes with an emphasis on intensive insulin and insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose sensor monitoring and diabetes education.  Jan is committed to improving diabetes care for persons in North Carolina and serves as a member of the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council. She is committed to increasing community awareness regarding the importance of on-going diabetes care and has served as a Co-Director of Raleigh’s Taking Control of Your Diabetes Conference and Health Fair, a national conference series for people with diabetes.  She has been involved with diabetes research, most recently the Medtronic Star 3 clinical trials.  She holds adjunct faculty appointments at both Duke University's School of Nursing as well as UNC-CH School of Nursing and is actively involved in the education of student learners, health care professionals, patients, and community leaders related to all aspects of diabetes management.

Susan Totten, RD, CDE (Board Member) is a registered and licensed dietitian.  She received her Bachelor's Degree in Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro majoring in Human Nutrition and minoring in Biology and Psychology.  She completed her ADA Dietetic Internship through North Carolina Central University to become a Registered Dietitian.  Susan has many years experience in the field of public health, where she worked as a nutritionist with the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program of North Carolina.  Susan also spent a year in Cincinnati, OH as a Nutrition Fellow in Adolescent Medicine with the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Teen Health Clinic.  Currently she is employed at Duke University Medical Center as a Dietitian Clinician and Certified Diabetes Educator in Duke's Adult Diabetes Education Program.