About Us

The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center was founded in 1997 to provide the best possible diabetes care today and to conduct the research that seeks to cure this disease tomorrow. 

Russell Berrie, a business entrepreneur, believed in the ability of people to change the world for the better. His mother Naomi had diabetes, and he saw the need for a world-leading center in the New York metropolitan area that would change how we understand and treat the disease. He envisioned a center where patients and scientists, doctors and educators, parents and students would gather, working toward a world without diabetes. 

He proposed to his diabetologist, Robin Goland, MD, that they establish such a center at Columbia University. They found a like mind in Rudolph Leibel, MD, one of the world’s leading diabetes and metabolism researchers. Enabled by Russ’s generosity and vision, the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center was founded. Under the leadership of Drs. Goland and Leibel, and the continued support of the Russell Berrie Foundation and other philanthropists, the Berrie Center has since emerged as one of the world’s leading centers for diabetes care and science.

Leadership

The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center pursues its mission under the accomplished direction of its dedicated leaders.