• June 5, 2008

The arrival of the 59-foot, interactive mobile showroom and 20,000-square foot village this weekend coincides with the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting taking place at the Moscone Center. The bus stopped in New York last November to commemorate the first United Nations-sanctioned World Diabetes Day and has since made several additional stops on its way to San Francisco.

The tour has taken the bus through Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America to drive awareness of the need for improved diabetes prevention, diagnosis and control as well as better education. Since its 2006 launch in Copenhagen, where Novo Nordisk is based, the bus has logged more than 27,000 miles and been visited by more than 100,000 people.

In San Francisco, Drew Lachey, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" champion and host of "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann," will kick off the official ceremony on Friday. At 11 a.m., Lachey will announce the winners of a national "Dancin' to Change Diabetes" online video contest designed to encourage dancing as a healthy exercise, which can help prevent or control diabetes.

--Nina M. Lentini