John Buse is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is also the Director of the Diabetes Care Center, and is the Executive Associate Dean for Clinical Research in the School of Medicine, where he is the Director of NC TraCS.
What is your clinical expertise?
Management of diabetes and its complications.
Tell us about your current role in the Department of Medicine.
About half of my effort is devoted to the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute which supports research efforts on campus with an aim to accelerate the translation of science to meaningful prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. It is largely funded by a federal grant that we are in the midst of renewing, so this will occupy the majority of my days through mid-2017. Most of the rest of my time is spent on various research projects aimed to improve treatment and prevention of diabetes. Our group of investigators provides leadership to ½ dozen or so large studies that we hope will really make a difference in the care of people with diabetes in the future. I spend about 15% of my time seeing patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, largely in our outpatient facility at Meadowmont. As part of my clinical work I do have the opportunity to work with students, residents and fellows. I am also the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, though the staff and faculty are so excellent that it really requires little effort.
What current project or initiative at UNC are you involved in that you are excited about?
There is so much going on at UNC that excites me. For most of us, the biggest challenge is that there is too much that urgently needs to be done. Basically, if I am not personally excited about a project, I am not going to take it on. The next big thing we are gearing up for is a second bionic pancreas trial where we will treat patients with type 1 diabetes with an integrated device which will take care of managing blood sugar for them and the “smart insulin” technologies being developed in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Those both have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of diabetes.
What do you love most about UNC?
I love the mission of UNC – fundamentally, to serve the people of the state of NC. I love that our faculty and staff embrace it and with diverse interests and backgrounds are happy to work together on important problems. Similarly, I love the diverse clientele of students in our educational efforts and patients in our clinical efforts. These features all derive from the mission.
Where is an interesting place you’ve traveled?
Cuba, Egypt, southeast Asia
How do you like to spend your free time?
With my wife and children whether at home or out and about in Chapel Hill.