We are pleased to announce the inauguration of a new program -- a complimentary one-hour Open House and Tour offered twice per month. The program is geared for those interested in learning about our cutting edge research, education and outreach programs to prevent, treat and cure diabetes in Santa Barbara and around the world. Alison Okada Wollitzer, Ph.D, Interim Administrator states that “The Open House and Tour program provides an excellent opportunity to educate the public about our local and global mission. Visitors to our facility are fascinated to learn about our groundbreaking work in developing the artificial pancreas and our initiatives to provide diabetes education and outreach to underserved, medically uninsured and youth populations in Santa Barbara.” According to Ellen Goodstein, Board President, “Visitors are thrilled to tour our beautiful facility, meet our staff team and go behind the scenes to see how we are really making a difference in conquering diabetes for people everywhere. Of particular interest is the chance to find out how we help people with diabetes through the lifespan and what actually goes on during an artificial pancreas clinical trial.” Upcoming dates for Open House and Tour sessions are November 8, 29 and December 13; the 2013 schedule will be announced at a later date. Sessions begin promptly at 4:00 p.m. To reserve a place, please contact Jeannine Glockler, Fund Development Officer at (805) 682-7638, ext. 248. Venue: Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.  Website

Enrich your palate with the best offerings from Central Coast wineries, breweries, restaurants, and caterers. Enjoy a spirited auction lead by dynamic duo Gabe Saglie and John Palminteri and live music. Bid on over 200 silent auction items including vacation stays, restaurant certificates and bottles of wine. Purveyors to date include: Beckmen Vineyards, Brander Vineyard, Bridlewood Estate Winery, California Pizza Kitchen, Carina Cellars, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery, Daniel Gehrs Wines, Danny Douglas Catering, Foxen, Fresco Café, Giessinger Winery, Island Brewing Company, Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Le Vigne Winery, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Lunchbox, Malibu Vineyards, Marmalade Café and Catering Company, Max’s Restaurant, Outback Steak House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Santa Barbara Catering, Silver Wines, Telegraph Brewing Company, The Barbecue Company, The Liquor & Wine Grotto, The Secret Ingredient, UCSB Faculty Club, Via Maestra 42, Whitcraft Winery, and World Cuisine Express. All proceeds fund research to help cure, treat, and prevent diabetes in our local community. Visit Sansum Diabetes Research Institute at sanusm.org for a link to our facebook page and view pictures from the 2011 Taste of the Vine. Venue: QAD.  Email   Website

Enrich your palate with the best offerings from Central Coast wineries, breweries, restaurants, and caterers. Enjoy a spirited auction lead by dynamic duo Gabe Saglie and John Palminteri and live music. Bid on over 200 silent auction items including vacation stays, restaurant certificates and bottles of wine. Purveyors to date include: Beckmen Vineyards, Brander Vineyard, Bridlewood Estate Winery, California Pizza Kitchen, Carina Cellars, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery, Daniel Gehrs Wines, Danny Douglas Catering, Foxen, Fresco Café, Giessinger Winery, Island Brewing Company, Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Le Vigne Winery, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Lunchbox, Malibu Vineyards, Marmalade Café and Catering Company, Max’s Restaurant, Outback Steak House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Santa Barbara Catering, Silver Wines, Telegraph Brewing Company, The Barbecue Company, The Liquor & Wine Grotto, The Secret Ingredient, UCSB Faculty Club, Via Maestra 42, Whitcraft Winery, and World Cuisine Express. All proceeds fund research to help cure, treat, and prevent diabetes in our local community. Visit Sansum Diabetes Research Institute at sanusm.org for a link to our facebook page and view pictures from the 2011 Taste of the Vine. Venue: QAD.  Email   Website

Enrich your palate with the best offerings from Central Coast wineries, breweries, restaurants, and caterers. Enjoy a spirited auction lead by dynamic duo Gabe Saglie and John Palminteri and live music. Bid on over 200 silent auction items including vacation stays, restaurant certificates and bottles of wine. Purveyors to date include: Beckmen Vineyards, Brander Vineyard, Bridlewood Estate Winery, California Pizza Kitchen, Carina Cellars, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery, Daniel Gehrs Wines, Danny Douglas Catering, Foxen, Fresco Café, Giessinger Winery, Island Brewing Company, Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Le Vigne Winery, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Lunchbox, Malibu Vineyards, Marmalade Café and Catering Company, Max’s Restaurant, Outback Steak House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Santa Barbara Catering, Silver Wines, Telegraph Brewing Company, The Barbecue Company, The Liquor & Wine Grotto, The Secret Ingredient, UCSB Faculty Club, Via Maestra 42, Whitcraft Winery, and World Cuisine Express. All proceeds fund research to help cure, treat, and prevent diabetes in our local community. Visit Sansum Diabetes Research Institute at sanusm.org for a link to our facebook page and view pictures from the 2011 Taste of the Vine. Venue: QAD.  Email   Website

Sansum Diabetes Research Institute has received $50,000 from the California Chapter of the March of Dimes for year one of a three-year project. The award funds the Semillas del Cambio (Seeds of Change) Project, an interconception care program for women with diabetes. Program participants will be chosen from a group of Santa Barbara County women who had gestational diabetes during their last pregnancy. A Spanish-language training toolkit will be developed that includes lesson plans, handouts, and teaching props for a six-session series. Lessons will focus on glucose control, healthy weight, blood pressure goals, breastfeeding benefits, physical activity, and the importance of zero-calorie drinks over sugary beverages. A strong emphasis will be placed on incorporating life-style changes. Training will initially be taught by Sansum Diabetes staff. Graduates of the class will become Promatoras (peer heath advocates), who will in turn lead classes that will empower women who have had gestational diabetes to take charge of their health and prepare for their next pregnancy. The goal is for the classes to be completely Promatora-led and self-sustaining, as graduates train others and spread the reach of the program to an ever-widening audience. Seeds of Change will primarily address the needs of low-income, medically-underserved, women with or at risk for diabetes who lack access to medical care and health education. The goal of this program is to impact the lives of these women and for many future generations in a low-cost, peer-led, self-sustaining manner. Sansum Diabetes Research Institute is a research institute devoted to the prevention, treatment and cure of diabetes. March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies®, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com/ca or nacersano.org.   Email   Website

Enrich your palate with the best offerings from Central Coast wineries, breweries, restaurants, and caterers. Enjoy a spirited auction lead by dynamic duo Gabe Saglie and John Palminteri and live music. Bid on over 200 silent auction items including vacation stays, restaurant certificates and bottles of wine. Purveyors to date include: Beckmen Vineyards, Brander Vineyard, Bridlewood Estate Winery, California Pizza Kitchen, Carina Cellars, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery, Daniel Gehrs Wines, Danny Douglas Catering, Foxen, Fresco Café, Giessinger Winery, Island Brewing Company, Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Le Vigne Winery, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Lunchbox, Malibu Vineyards, Marmalade Café and Catering Company, Max’s Restaurant, Outback Steak House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Santa Barbara Catering, Silver Wines, Telegraph Brewing Company, The Barbecue Company, The Liquor & Wine Grotto, The Secret Ingredient, UCSB Faculty Club, Via Maestra 42, Whitcraft Winery, and World Cuisine Express. All proceeds fund research to help cure, treat, and prevent diabetes in our local community. Visit Sansum Diabetes Research Institute at sanusm.org for a link to our facebook page and view pictures from the 2010 Taste of the Vine. Venue: QAD.  Email   Website

Sansum Diabetes Research Institute hosts its popular fundraiser, the 10th Annual Taste of the Vine & Auction, on Saturday, August 20, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at QAD, Inc. on the bluffs in Summerland. ----- Taste outstanding wine, beer, and food from 40 of the central coast’s best purveyors. Enjoy the spectacular view, music by Society Jazz, and a live auction featuring auctioneer John Palminteri. Bid on vacation packages, wine and numerous silent auction items. ----- Event proceeds support medical research to cure, treat, and prevent diabetes. ----- Rabobank, N.A. is the Estate Sponsor. Other top sponsors to date include Nancy and Thomas S. Crawford, Jr., Montecito Bank & Trust, Boyd Communication and Linda Boyd, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, the Inserra family, James and Amy Sloan, the Coeta & Donald Barker Foundation, and the Henry W. Bull Foundation. ----- Tickets are $75 in advance and $85 at the door if not sold out. For more information call Susan Murray at (805) 682-7640 x243 or purchase tickets on-line at www.sansum.org.  Website

Michael E. Nissenson has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Sansum Diabetes Research Institute and has been appointed to serve on the Development Committee. ----- Mr. Nissenson is President of Ventura Resources, Inc., a commercial Real Estate management company. He has over 50 years of real estate and construction experience. ----- In the not-for-profit world, Nissenson is the Chairman of the Moishe Foundation, an international chain of Jewish educational programs operating in 14 countries. He is also a Board member of the Health & Fitness Authority, an Overseer at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and has served as President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, and on the Executive Committee and Board of the Jewish Federations of North America. Other past Board service has included Beit T'Shuvah, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Hillel UCSB, and Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic. ----- Originally from Los Angeles, Nissenson graduated from UCLA and has resided in Santa Barbara for over 10 years. ----- For additional information on Sansum Diabetes Research Institute call (805) 682-7638 x 243.   Website

Enrich your palate with the best offerings from Central Coast wineries, breweries, restaurants, and caterers. Enjoy a spirited auction lead by dynamic duo Gabe Saglie and John Palminteri and live music. Bid on over 200 silent auction items including vacation stays, restaurant certificates and bottles of wine. ----- Purveyors to date include: Beckmen Vineyards, Brander Vineyard, Bridlewood Estate Winery, California Pizza Kitchen, Carina Cellars, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery, Daniel Gehrs Wines, Danny Douglas Catering, Foxen, Fresco Café, Giessinger Winery, Island Brewing Company, Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Le Vigne Winery, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Lunchbox, Malibu Vineyards, Marmalade Café and Catering Company, Max’s Restaurant, Outback Steak House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Santa Barbara Catering, Silver Wines, Telegraph Brewing Company, The Barbecue Company, The Liquor & Wine Grotto, The Secret Ingredient, UCSB Faculty Club, Via Maestra 42, Whitcraft Winery, and World Cuisine Express. ----- All proceeds fund research to help cure, treat, and prevent diabetes in our local community. ----- Visit Sansum Diabetes Research Institute at sanusm.org for a link to our facebook page and view pictures from the 2010 Taste of the Vine.   Email   Website

On Saturday December 11th from 1-4:00 pm Neuvie′ Contemporary Furniture will host an open house reception at 132 Santa Barbara Street, showcasing Sansum Diabetes Research Institute. The reception will feature paintings by abstract artist Karin Aggeler and an entertaining performance by versatile musical and visual artist Matthew McAvene. Wine, cheese and soft drinks will be served. Neuvie′ will also have a drawing to win a Stressless Recliner. Sansum Research staff will be there to greet you and answer any questions you may have about diabetes, current classes, and provide information on current clinical trials being conducted at the Institute. This promises to be an entertaining and informative event and can be enjoyed by the entire family.   Email   Website