Diabetes Motion Expert-- Helping Everyone Live Well (and Long)

Meet Dr. Sheri

Check out some of her latest projects!

Sheri Colberg, PhD, also known as Sheri Colberg-Ochs (pronounced "Coal-Berg-Oaks"), is a world-renowned Diabetes Motion Expert. She's an author, lecturer, consultant, researcher, exercise physiologist, and professor emerita (retired) of exercise science from Old Dominion University. She also formerly served as an adjunct professor of internal medicine at nearby Eastern Virginia Medical School.

With a B.A. degree from Stanford University, M.A. from University of California, Davis, and Ph.D. from Cal Berkeley, she has specialized in research studies on diabetes and exercise, aging, and healthy lifestyles. She has authored 12 books, over 450 articles, and 35 book chapters on physical activity, diabetes, healthy lifestyles, nutrition, successful aging, and more. She also founded Diabetes Motion, a free educational website for everyone wishing to exercise with diabetes of any type, as well as Diabetes Motion Academy, which offers educational programs for fitness professionals and others. 

In addition to her many credentials, including working as an exercise specialist in a diabetes treatment center, Dr. Sheri has over 53 years' worth of practical experience as a (type 1) diabetic exerciser and person living with diabetes. She headed up a position stand on "Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes" jointly for the American College of Sports Medicine and American Diabetes Association in 2010, another titled "Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes" for the ADA in 2016, and an updated consensus statement on type 2 diabetes for the ACSM in 2022 as co-chair.

In 2012, she received both the Old Dominion University (ODU) Friends of the Library Achievement Award, given to a member of the university community who has excelled through writing for a span of years, and the ODU Faculty Research Award for her distinguished research career. In 2015, she received the top faculty award, the ODU A. Rufus Tonelson Distinguished Faculty Award, for excellence in teaching, research, and service. In 2016, she was honored with a prestigious national award, the ADA Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award. In 2021, she made the list of the top 2% research scientists worldwide.

A frequent lecturer on diabetes and exercise across the nation to both professional and lay audiences, Dr. Sheri is also a consultant for many groups and organizations, reviewer for multiple scientific journals and grants, member of several advisory boards, monthly columnist for Diabetes In Control, and a Fellow of American College of Sports Medicine. An avid recreational exerciser, she enjoys swimming, biking, walking and hiking, fitness machines, weight training, and other activities. She definitely practices what she preaches!