Vivian A. Fonseca, MD, FRCP, is Professor of Medicine, Assistant Dean for Clinical Research, the Tullis-Tulane Alumni Chair in Diabetes, and chief of the Section of Endocrinology at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.. He is a Past President for Science and Medicine of the American Diabetes Association (2012), and has served on the ADA Board of Directors and several committees. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), and the Board of Trustees of the American College of Endocrinology. He has served on committees writing guidelines for both organizations. He has held a leadership role and served on various committees in several other organizations including the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Fonseca has served on and been chairman of the clinical practice committee of the American Diabetes Association, the ADA Disaster Task Force, ADA strategic planning committee.
He has played a significant role in developing guidelines for treating diabetes (ADA and AACE), managing chronic disease and clinical trials after a natural disaster and in drawing attention to the global epidemic of diabetes, particularly in Asia. The American Diabetes Association awarded him the ADA Banting Medal for Leadership and Service and the Southern Medical Association awarded him the Seale - Harris award. He has received several teaching awards and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and has been listed for several years among the Best Doctors in the USA and for several years rated by Expertscape among the top 10 experts in Diabetes worldwide. Dr. Fonseca is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London).
Dr. Fonseca plays a significant role in Clinical Research as Assistant Dean at Tulane University, and in its partnership with the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LACaTS) Program. Dr Fonseca has served as Associate Director of the Aging and Cardiometabolic COBREs and a mentor and committee member in BIRCWH. He a strong interest in facilitating clinical research and developing the next generation of translational researchers. He is the Medical Director of the Tulane Clinical Trials Unit and Director of the Research Professional Development Core, which runs the Masters in Science in Clinical Research degree course.
He is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. He was Editor in chief of Diabetes Care, from 2007-2011, having formerly been associate editor. He was until 2006 Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Metabolic Syndrome and related disorders. He served on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and is an ad hoc reviewer for several other journals, including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, Diabetes, etc.
Dr. Fonseca’s research interests include the prevention and treatment of diabetic complications and risk factor reduction in cardiovascular disease, particularly on the role of inflammation and other novel risk factors. He has a research program evaluating inflammation in diabetes, and using technology to improve diabetes care in underprivileged populations, especially the use of a novel diabetes risk engine in clinical practice. He is Co – PI of REACHNET a large network that conducts research utilizing electronic health records of over 2 million people across several states. He is the site PI of several large national research programs including 1. the All of Us Program, 2. COVID related studies – N3C utilizing EMR data about COVID and the RECOVER study which will evaluate long term COVID complications in a large cohort.
Dr. Fonseca has lectured in the United States and abroad. He has published nearly 500 papers and review articles. He is the editor of the text book “Clinical Diabetes: Translating Research into Practice” (El Sevier) and several monographs and book chapters.
