The Whittier Institute for Diabetes Names Executive Director

The Whittier Institute for Diabetes has named Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD, as Executive Director. A subsidiary of Scripps Health, The Whittier Institute for Diabetes is one of the nation’s leading diabetes research, patient care and education organizations based in La Jolla, California.

“Diabetes is not only a growing epidemic in the U.S., but here in our community. One-third of the estimated 220,000 people in San Diego County are not even aware they have diabetes,” said Dr. Tsimikas. “The Whittier Institute for Diabetes is a vital resource in educating people and making the disease more manageable today, while working to find solutions and improving care in the future.”

Dr. Tsimikas has worked for Scripps Health for a decade; the past eight years at The Whittier Institute for Diabetes. Dr. Tsimikas received her medical degree from the University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece, and completed Endocrinology/Metabolism fellowships from the University of California, San Diego and Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.

San Diego residents for 14 years, Dr. Tsimikas and her husband, Dr. Sotirios Tsimikas, an interventional cardiologist, have two children, Christos, 7, and Alexia, 6.

For more information on The Whittier Institute for Diabetes, please visit www.whittier.org

Founded in 1924 by Ellen Browning Scripps, Scripps Health is celebrating its 80th year as a not-for-profit, San Diego-based health care system. Scripps includes more than 2,600 affiliated physicians, five acute care hospitals, an ambulatory care network, and home health care services employing 10,500 people and treating 525,000 patients annually. Scripps is a world leader in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and is at the forefront of prevention, medical innovation, clinical research and technology. Scripps is recognized for quality health care, named among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News and World Report (2002, 2003), earning the National Research Corporation’s Consumers Choice Award (2001, 2002 and 2003), and among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals from Solucient (2000, 2001).