About Nicole Johnson

Meet dLifeTV Host Nicole Johnson

Pittsburgh resident Nicole Johnson was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1993. A sophomore in college at the time, Nicole had been told she had anemia, Beijing flu, and appendicitis before doctors finally took appropriate bloodwork and determined the cause of her ongoing illness. With blood glucose levels over 500, Nicole was admitted to a hospital where she was told that she would never have a career, be a mother, or continue with her blossoming interest in pageants. It was that misinformation and lack of communication of the disease that set her on the path to promoting diabetes awareness and education. In 1999, Nicole was crowned as Miss America - the first ever with diabetes in the pageant's history. Since that achievement, she has become one of our nation’s most visible and effective diabetes advocates.

Nicole travels around the world to educate people about diabetes and prediabetes and is currently pursuing her second master’s degree in public health (MPH) at the University of Pittsburgh. She also spends several days a month lobbying on Capitol Hill on behalf of diabetes patient groups and biotech companies.

The potential reach of dLife to the growing diabetes community is what made the project so attractive to Nicole:

“dLife is a perfect way and a perfect tool to use to change people’s lives. My responsibility is to use this opportunity and the gifts that God has given me to help other people deal with challenges and obstacles. dLife is a chance to touch people I’d never be able to touch reach individually, a resource for caring for people in a non-traditional way. To me, that’s how we put our arms around this issue and start to deal with it."

Nicole has received numerous awards nationally and internationally for her work in diabetes education. Some of those awards include: the C. Everett Koop Medal for Health Promotion and Awareness, American Diabetes Association, 1999; the Eugene T. Davidson, MD Award for Public Service, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, 1999; the Bill Gullickson Award, Japan Association for Diabetes Care and Education, 1999; and the Victory Over Diabetes Medal, Polish Diabetes Association, 2000.

Nicole holds a master’s degree in journalism, and has written several books including her own autobiography, Living With Diabetes (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2001). She has co-authored both “Mr. Food: Every Day's a Holiday Diabetic Cookbook …with Nicole Johnson (American Diabetes Association, 2002), and Mr. Food’s Quick and Easy Diabetic Cooking …with Nicole Johnson (American Diabetes Association, 2001). She is currently working on a new book, a collaborative effort with husband Scott Baker that explores the gift of relationship in chronic disease. Nicole resides in Pittsburgh with her husband, their three children, and Skippy the dog (who motivates her to walk daily).

Each month, Nicole shares her life and experiences as a person with diabetes and gives the dLife community information they too can use to live a healthy life.

Read Nicole's dLife columns here.

Visit Nicole Johnson’s website.

Tune in to CNBC each Sunday at 7:00PM ET, 6:00PM CT, and 4:00PM PT; CoLours TV on DISH TV Channel 9407 each Saturday at 7:30AM, Sunday at 4:30PM, and Tuesday at 6:30AM ET; and also DIRECTV channel 251 every Saturday at 7:30AM ET!