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Lorena Drago is a registered dietitian, consultant and certified diabetes educator. She is senior associate director of ambulatory care nutrition programs at Lincoln Hospital in Forest Hills, New York, including: director of the diabetes education program and the women, infants and children supplemental nutrition program and maintains her own private practice. Ms. Drago specializes in the multicultural aspects of diabetes self-management education and is an expert in developing culturally and ethnically-oriented nutrition and diabetes education materials. She founded, Hispanic Foodways, and most recently she developed teaching tools and patient education materials such as the Nutriportion™ Measuring Cups that has the calorie and carbohydrate amounts of common foods embossed on each cup and the Nutriportion™ Hispanic Food Cards that have pictures and nutrition composition of common Hispanic foods.

Ms. Drago serves on the American Association of Diabetes Educators board of directors; and is the chair of the American Diabetes Association Latino Committee. She also served as past president of the Metropolitan New York Association of Diabetes Educators in 2004.

Ms. Drago is the author of Beyond Rice and Beans: The Caribbean Guide to Eating Well with Diabetes, published by the American Diabetes Association and a contributing editor of Newsflash, a publication of the Diabetes Care and Education Specialty Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association. She is a contributing author and co-editor of the book Cultural Food Practices and Diabetes, soon to be published by the American Dietetic Association.

Ms. Drago speaks on nutrition education, cultural competent diabetes care and health literacy. She has been an invited guest speaker and/or faculty member at the following annual meetings: Mexican Association of Diabetes Educators, Colombian Diabetes Association, American Diabetes Association and American Association of Diabetes Educators. Ms. Drago graduated cum laude from Hunter College of the City University of New York with a Masters of Science degree in Food and Nutrition, and received her BA in Home Economics, Food and Nutrition from Queens College.