Diane K. Newman, RNC MSN, CRNP FAAN, BCIA-PMDB, a certified nurse practitioner, is Co-Director of the Penn Center for Continence and Pelvic Health, Division of Urology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, in Philadelphia and an Instructor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Newman received a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from LaSalle University, and a Master of Science degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia. She is certified as an adult nurse practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Ms. Newman is currently serving as co-principal investigator on research studies on the treatment and management of urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, interstitial cystitis, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction. She was a member of the planning committee of the State-of-the-Science Conference on Prevention of Fecal and Urinary Incontinence in Adults, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and presented at the December 2007 meeting. She is a member of the Patient Education Council of the American Urological Association Foundation (AUAF). Mrs. Newman is guest faculty at the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse Education Program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is Chairperson of the Committee on Promotion, Education, and Organization for Continence for the World Health Organization’s International Consultation on Incontinence. She is the Chair of the International Continence Society (ICS) Continence Promotion Committee.

Ms Newman was a member of the panel of experts of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s Scope and Severity of Nursing Care Deficiencies in long term care on “Guidance to Surveyors on Incontinence and Catheters-Tag F315.” She was the Co-chair of the 1996 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Clinical Practice Guideline on Urinary Incontinence: Acute and Chronic Management. She served as a member for the Gastroenterology and Urology Devices Panel of the Federal Drug Administration from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, the National Association for Continence (NAFC) presented her with the Continence Care Champion Award.

Ms. Newman is an internationally known speaker on the topic of urinary incontinence and the use of devices and products for the management of incontinence. She has been invited to speak in Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, Sapporo, Yokohomo, Florence, Monaco, Edinburgh, Monte Carlo, Halifax, Montreal and Bournemouth. A prolific writer, Ms. Newman has written and presented more than 100 scientific papers, chapters, and articles on the assessment, treatment, and management of incontinence with an emphasis on the nurse’s role. Her work has appeared in many journals including Urologic Nursing, Journal of Enterostomal Nursing, RN, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Journal of Nursing (AJN). Her AJN article on “Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women” was cited by the New York Times Personal Health Column, September 2003. She was interviewed in the August 2007 issue of Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine. She holds editorial positions on several journals, including the International Urogynecology Journal, Neurourology and Urodynamics and Ostomy/Wound Management.

She is the author of the books The Urinary Incontinence Sourcebook and Managing and Treating Urinary Incontinence, the 2nd edition will be released in 2008 with the addition of Dr Alan Wein as co-author. She is the recipient of the American Journal of Nursing 2002 Gerontologic Nursing Book Award for the 1st Edition of Managing and Treating Urinary Incontinence. She is the co-author with Dr Alan Wein of Overcoming Overactive Bladder.

New Initiatives
UroToday is pleased to announce a new initiative with Diane K. Newman to create content for the readers of UroToday with a focus on the urinary incontinent (UI), overactive bladder (OAB) and painful bladder syndrome (PBS) patients.

World Continence Week
The Continence Promotion Committee (CPC) was formed following a workshop at International Continence Society (ICS) meeting in Rome in 1995, where it was agreed that the ICS should act as a facilitator for various international continence organisations to meet and address relevant issues to do with continence promotion, awareness and prevention. The principle aims were:

• To look at opportunities for networking across various countries;
• To increase awareness amongst ICS members of continence related issues;
• To facilitate development of continence organisations
• To facilitate interchange of information about continence awareness and promotion;
• To identify opportunities for continence prevention strategies.

Annual workshops have been held each year at the ICS meetings.

Diane Newman authored:

• Managing and Treating Urinary Incontinence, Second Edition (Coming soon!)
• The Urinary Incontinence Sourcebook
• Managing and Treating Urinary Incontinence

• Overcoming Overactive Bladder

Awards Received
American Journal of Nursing 2002 Gerontologic Nursing Book Award for Managing and Treating Urinary Incontinence