Odom Diabetes Educator Of The Year, Low-Carb Docs Vernon, Bernstein Follow

The winner of Diabetes Educator Of The Year 2007 has been named

It's been several months in the making and now a winner has been chosen in the first annual American Diabetes Wholesale-sponsored Diabetes Educator of the Year for 2007 award--Barbara Odom, RN, PHN, M.ED.

CONGRATULATIONS to Ms. Odom for winning with 43.1% of the 1991 votes that were cast. She is a U.S. Navy Veteran, a Registered Nurse of 36 years and a Certified Diabetes Educator since 1985. After retiring in 2001, Ms. Odom has since been a regular volunteer and monthly support group leader in the San Diego area by providing workshops and education fairs about the subject of diabetes.

The field of nominees began in the hundreds and was whittled down to five earlier this year, including highly-respected low-carb diabetes doctors Richard K. Bernstein and Mary C. Vernon, as well as Marcia D. Draheim, RN, CDE and Fran Kiger, RN, CDE. You will recall back in October 2007 I officially nominated Dr. Vernon for this award and named her in my Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers of 2007 list soon thereafter. Because of your enthusiasm for her, Dr. Vernon was included among the five finalists named in late January 2008 until the voting ended on February 22, 2008. The winner was announced on Monday.

Dr. Vernon garnered 26.2% of the votes to come in second place and win a $250 American Express gift certificate as well as a well-deserved plaque for her runner-up achievement. Dr. Bernstein, another low-carb pioneer in the field of diabetes, was a close third with 23.5% of the total votes cast.

It seems that despite our best efforts to try to bring the low-carb community together voting for either Dr. Vernon or Dr. Bernstein were unsuccessful and the vote was indeed split between the two candidates as many feared would happen with two qualified candidates. The combined vote totals for just these two nominees were half of the total votes cast--more than enough to give either Dr. Vernon or Dr. Bernstein a plurality of votes to win.

According to my site statistics for the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog, well over 500 people clicked on the link to vote in this contest. THANK YOU to everyone who voted and helped Dr. Vernon become the second place winner and giving her the recognition she has earned for the amazing work she is doing on behalf of the healthy low-carb lifestyle for diabetics. We appreciate the opportunity to tell the diabetic community about the great work she and Dr. Bernstein are doing.

I personally spoke with a representative from American Diabetes Wholesale today to confirm these results since the final vote tallies were not available to the general public. They made the decision to withhold the actual vote tally from the public so as not to embarrass the finalists who did not garner as many votes. Let me assure you the votes were accurate and I've seen them with my own eyes.

Special THANKS again to everyone who voted and CONGRATULATIONS to Barbara Odom for winning Diabetes Educator of the Year for 2007.