Etta J. Vinik, MA (ED)
Associate Director, Education Unit
Strelitz Diabetes Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders

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Etta Vinik has worked in the field of education for many years, teaching high school Latin and English, then, in 1980, turning from the field of humanities to technology and education to adult audiences. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in instructional technology, she entered the corporate and medical world, writing technical manuals for software, designing training for industry, and producing medical programs. These included an exercise tape, “Get up and Go,” to fulfill the physical needs of post-surgery breast-cancer patients, and a videotape, “Hobson’s Choice,” used as a teaching tool for medical students at the University of Michigan Hospital to address the emotional needs of patients on adjuvant chemotherapy.

In 1990, she accepted the position of Associate Director of Education at the Strelitz Diabetes Center where she coordinates and designs education programs for patients, medical professionals and the community. Her duties include organizing the weekly continuing medical education program, Endocrine Grand Rounds, and major conferences and workshops for health professionals; organizing education for the general public by participating in health fairs, walkathons, etc; producing publicity pieces used for brochures, letters and web site information; and working with the nurse coordinator to improve quality of the patient education program by reviewing outcomes and reassessing goals and objectives of the program.

Mrs. Vinik's special interest is research into quality of life of patients with neuropathy and neuroendocrine tumors, which has resulted in the development and validation of two questionnaires - Norfolk QOL-DN and Norfolk QOL-NET - along with three published articles and two book chapters related to this area. She is a reviewer for several journals focusing on patient-related outcomes and has served on the committee for the International Society for Pharmacokinetics and Patient Reported Outcomes for developing the ISPOR TOOLKIT; she also acts as a reviewer of abstracts for presentations at their annual meetings. Her abstracts on quality of life have been accepted for publication and poster presentation at the American Diabetes Association’s national meetings in 2002 (Selected for Publication in Daily Reviews) and in 2003 (regular scientific posters and one in Late Breaking News); the International Diabetes Federation’s meeting in Paris in 2003; at ISPOR in May 2003, 2005, and 2009; at the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society's 4th Annual ENETS Conference in Barcelona, March 2007; and at the National Association of Neuroendocrine Tumors in 2009.

Selected Publications

• Vinik EJ, Carlton CA, Silva MP, Vinik AI. Development of the Norfolk Quality of Life Tool for assessing patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Pancreas. 2009 Apr;38(3):e87-95.
• Vinik EJ,Paulson JF, Ford-Molvik SL, Vinik AI. German-translated Norfolk Quality of Life (QOL-DN) identifies the same factors as the English version of the tool and discriminates different levels of neuropathy severity. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology. 2008 Nov;2(6):1075-86.
• Vinik EJ, Hayes R, Oglesby A, Bastyr E, Barlow P, Ford-Molvik S, Vinik AI. The Development and Validation of the Norfolk QOL-DN a New Measure of patients’ Perception of the Effects of Diabetes and Diabetic Neuropathy, Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, Vol. 7(3), 497-508, 2005.