page_title: Nicole Johnson (Miss America)
section_title: Diabetes activism
hierarchical_section_title: Nicole Johnson (Miss America) / Diabetes activism
caption_attribution_description: Congressman Gus Bilirakis meets with Diabetes advocate and former Miss America Nicole Johnson
context_page_description: Nicole Johnson is an American beauty queen, author, public health professional and activist. Crowned Miss America 1999 and Miss Virginia 1998, she became the first Miss America with diabetes and the first contestant to publicize the use of an insulin pump. She now advocates for diabetes research, treatment, and education, having been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1993.
context_section_description: Johnson became a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association in the 1990s and had testified in legislative hearings in Washington, D.C. prior to winning the Miss Virginia title.  
  In 2004, her communication skills and journalism background led her to become the anchor of dLife, a weekly TV series about diabetes that aired on CNBC. Johnson has also written several books over her career: three cookbooks with Mr. Food, an independent cookbook titled, Nicole Johnson's Diabetes Recipe Makeovers, an autobiography titled Living with Diabetes, and a book for young adults titled, Young Adult Type 1 Diabetes Realities.
  She continues to work as a diabetes advocate and patient care expert - professionally and in a volunteer capacity. Her consulting clients have included Novo Nordisk, Animas Corporation, AmMed Direct LLC and Eli Lilly and Company. On a volunteer basis, she has served in leadership roles within the JDRF and the American Diabetes Association. Her academic credentials have most recently led her to public health work at the University of South Florida where she is the Executive Director of a program she created called Bringing Science Home. In 2010, Johnson founded Students With Diabetes (SWD), at the University of South Florida, to serve the needs of the young adult population with diabetes.
caption: Johnson with congressman, Gus Bilirakis, in 2008
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