Stream 1 Session #5: On the quest to end diabetes-related stigma

Tracks
Meeting Room 103
Thursday, August 20, 2026
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Meeting Room 103 (Level 1)

Speaker

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Mr Chris Lee
Consumer
Mindirrima Cultural Solutions

Chairperson

Biography

Chris Lee is a First Nations cultural leader and passionate diabetes advocate. Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2013, he worked across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media, justice, and community-controlled health and wellbeing for more than 40 years. He was engaged as the inaugural National Manager for Engagement and Education under the inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education and engagement strategy at a national Diabetes advocacy organisation. He chairs the University of Sydney T1Diabetes First Nations Governance Committee and recently spoke at the International Diabetes Stigma Conference in Jaipur, India, promoting trauma-safe, culturally grounded approaches to diabetes care.
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Ms Renza Scibilia
Senior Director, Global Responsibility
Breakthrough T1D / #dedoc° / Diabetogenic

Chairperson

Biography

Renza Scibilia has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1998. She is a diabetes advocate and activist, and is Senior Director of Global Responsibility at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF). She has worked for diabetes organisations for the last twenty-five years, promoting a person-centred approach to the development, design and delivery of diabetes technologies, services, resources, research and education programs. Renza is also the Global Head of Advocacy for #dedoc°, a European-based organisation which provides opportunities for diabetes advocates from across the world to become part of a peer network and attend professional conferences under the banner #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs. Renza has extensive experience as a consultant, facilitator, presenter, and media spokesperson and is frequently invited to speak at conferences where she speaks about topics including the role of peer support in healthcare, diabetes technology and digital solutions, why language and communication matters in healthcare and how to reduce diabetes-related stigma. Renza is the author of Diabetogenic, (www.diabetogenic.wordpress.com) and a regular contributor to many online and print health publications.
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Ms Nupur Lalvani
Founder Director
Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation

Learnings from the first Global Stigma Summit

11:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Biography

Nupur is Founder & Director at Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation, India’s largest patient-led organization for people with all types of diabetes. She works across advocacy, community engagement & digital health to improve awareness and support for people living with diabetes. She has lived with type 1 diabetes since childhood.
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Ms Janina Gaudin
Visual Health Communication Specialist
Miss Diabetes

What does stigma look like for different cultural groups? (Panel discussion + Q&A)

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Biography

Janina Gaudin is a visual health communication specialist and comic creator. Through her platform Miss Diabetes, she develops comics that improve health literacy, reduce stigma, and communicate the lived experience of diabetes. She has worked with organisations including the World Health Organization, diaTribe, and Save the Children, and is a commissioner for the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Commission on Type 1 Diabetes.
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Ms Nupur Lalvani
Founder Director
Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation

What does stigma look like for different cultural groups? (Panel discussion + Q&A)

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Biography

Nupur is Founder & Director at Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation, India’s largest patient-led organization for people with all types of diabetes. She works across advocacy, community engagement & digital health to improve awareness and support for people living with diabetes. She has lived with type 1 diabetes since childhood.
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Mr Chris Lee
Consumer
Mindirrima Cultural Solutions

What does stigma look like for different cultural groups? (Panel discussion + Q&A)

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Biography

Chris Lee is a First Nations cultural leader and passionate diabetes advocate. Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2013, he worked across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media, justice, and community-controlled health and wellbeing for more than 40 years. He was engaged as the inaugural National Manager for Engagement and Education under the inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education and engagement strategy at a national Diabetes advocacy organisation. He chairs the University of Sydney T1Diabetes First Nations Governance Committee and recently spoke at the International Diabetes Stigma Conference in Jaipur, India, promoting trauma-safe, culturally grounded approaches to diabetes care.
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Mrs Anita Permata Sari
International Relations
PERSADIA

What does stigma look like for different cultural groups? (Panel discussion + Q&A)

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Biography

Anita is a patient advocate with over 10 years of experience, driven by 28 years of living with Type 1 Diabetes, later diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and chronic kidney disease. She works to improve access to care, reduce stigma, and amplify patient voices. Through collaboration with advocacy groups, health professionals, and policymakers, she pushes for systemic change and support inclusive diabetes care, especially for women and young adults.
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Ms Renza Scibilia
Senior Director, Global Responsibility
Breakthrough T1D / #dedoc° / Diabetogenic

What does stigma look like for different cultural groups? (Panel discussion + Q&A)

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Biography

Renza Scibilia has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1998. She is a diabetes advocate and activist, and is Senior Director of Global Responsibility at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF). She has worked for diabetes organisations for the last twenty-five years, promoting a person-centred approach to the development, design and delivery of diabetes technologies, services, resources, research and education programs. Renza is also the Global Head of Advocacy for #dedoc°, a European-based organisation which provides opportunities for diabetes advocates from across the world to become part of a peer network and attend professional conferences under the banner #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs. Renza has extensive experience as a consultant, facilitator, presenter, and media spokesperson and is frequently invited to speak at conferences where she speaks about topics including the role of peer support in healthcare, diabetes technology and digital solutions, why language and communication matters in healthcare and how to reduce diabetes-related stigma. Renza is the author of Diabetogenic, (www.diabetogenic.wordpress.com) and a regular contributor to many online and print health publications.
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Dr Elizabeth Holmes-Truscott
Senior Research Fellow
Deakin University

Stigma efforts in a post-Summit world

12:15 PM - 12:30 PM

Biography

Dr Elizabeth Holmes Truscott (Deputy Director, Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes; ACADI Behavioural Platform Lead) brings expertise in the psychosocial aspects of diabetes, focusing on stigma, barriers to self care, and embedding community voices throughout the research process. She has lived experience of gestational diabetes.
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