You may have seen him on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef,” but Sam Talbot now has his sights set on promoting Type 1 diabetes awareness. Talbot has joined “Life First,” a diabetes awareness campaign. Himself a Type 1 diabetic, Talbot seeks to increase awareness for diabetics in general and to stress that diabetics can lead full and active lives if they have access to blood glucose monitoring technologies.

“Many people view their diabetes as a barrier that prevents them from doing all the things they want to do,” Talbot said. “But instead of having diabetes be the focus of your life, ‘Life First’ means accepting your diabetes and taking control of it, every day, so that you can live your life on your terms.”

Talbot is an executive chef at Surf Lodge, located in Montauk, New York, in addition to being executive chef at Imperial No. 9, a restaurant in the Mondrian Soho Hotel. Talbot is familiar with the balancing act between managing diabetes and living a full and active life, and he intends to help other diabetics understand both the physiological and mental aspects of the disease, aiding them in managing their blood glucose levels as well as their outlooks and attitudes.

Sam Talbot seeks to be a driving force in the “Life First” campaign, relating his experiences with other diabetics and educating them on living successfully with the disease. There are approximately 26 million people in the United States living with diabetes.