Dr. Polonsky is CEO and Founder of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, the world's first organization wholly dedicated to studying and addressing the unmet psychological needs of people with diabetes. He is also Associate Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Polonsky received his PhD in clinical psychology from Yale University and has served as Senior Psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Chairman of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators.



A licensed clinical psychologist and certified diabetes educator, he has served on the editorial boards of Diabetes Care, Diabetes Forecast, Clinical Diabetes, Diabetes Self-Management and Diabetes Health. In addition to his many diabetes-related professional publications, he is authored several books for the lay audience (e.g., Diabetes Burnout: What to Do When You Can’t Take it Anymore) and co-edited several others for health care professionals (e.g., A CORE Curriculum for Diabetes Education).



Dr. Polonsky’s most recent research has focused on: quality of life in diabetes, diabetes-related distress and depression, hypoglycemic fear, blood glucose monitoring behavior and attitudes in patients with type 2 diabetes, physician and patient attitudes towards insulin and oral medications, group-based behavior change programs, the influence of continuous glucose monitoring on quality of life, and emotional and behavioral responses to the diagnosis of diabetes.