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 has nonprofit experience working as a Marketing Manager with the American Cancer Society. Since 2000, she has served as a Board Member on the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council. Mrs. Barnes is currently employed in medication sales in Raleigh, NC.

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.

Laura Ely (Vice President) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1989.  She is a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with dual degrees in Psychology and Spanish.  Her work has included experience as a Clinical Research Coordinator for both Type 1 and 2 diabetes studies at the UNC Diabetes Care Center and in Clinical Research with Quintiles. For the last decade, Ms. Ely has also been involved with Camp Carolina Trails, a camp for children with diabetes that promotes the importance of living with a Positive Mental Attitude.

Camille Izlar, RD, CDE (Board Member) received her master's degree in nutrition from UNC-Greensboro.  She is a Registered Dietician, a Certified Diabetes Educator, and a Certified Pump Trainer. She has been employed as a Diabetes Educator at the UNC Diabetes Care Center since 1995.  Ms. Izlar has lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1969.  

Chetan Kundavaram (Board Member) 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.  

Nancy Mayer, JD (Board Member) is an attorney at law who now runs a solo general practice concentrating on Elder Law, Disability Law and Immigration Law. Mrs. Mayer worked for USEPA for the past 30 years concentrating in air pollution policy and regulation development, implementation and enforcement. She has experience as a union steward with the American Federation of Government Employees where she specializes in American with Disabilities Act applications and federal arbitration. Mrs. Mayer is also an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys.

Anne Peters, MD (Board Member) is a nationally and internationally respected diabetologist and one of bestdoctors.com's "Best Doctors in America". She is professor of medicine and director of the USC Clinical Diabetes Programs. Dr. Peters treats a spectrum of patients, from Hollywood producers, writers, and stars who frequent her clinic in Beverly Hills to the poor who populate her free diabetes clinic in East Los Angeles. The former chairperson of the American Diabetes Association Council on Health Care Delivery and Public Health, Dr. Peters speaks nationally and internationally. She has appeared on Larry King Live, Dateline, CNN, E.R., and the Discovery Channel, among others.

Tisa Roberts, MD (Board Member) is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Medicine and has been in practice for five years. Her work has included experience in low-income clinics in the Raleigh and Benson, North Carolina areas. Her family history of diabetes has led her to seek out positions that provide clinical experience with this population. Currently, she is employed by Johnston Memorial Hospital at Johnston Family Care Center.