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Now 11, Aubrey still doesn't like fruits and vegetables. But his mother says he does check the labels on the food he eats, and he tries to avoid those with too much fat or sugar. He has also resolved to exercise. After the class was over, she bought him a Tae-Bo tape so he could work out in the living room.

"He pushes away french fries," says Bussey, a teacher who lives in Clayton. "This morning, he was trying to decide whether to eat a yogurt. He thought there was too much sugar in it."

Piehl never meets most of the children who benefit from his idea. But without his vision, colleagues say, many children like Aubrey would be heading for a lifetime of health problems.

"He has had a profound effect on our understanding of this disease," says Judy O'Neal, WakeMed's senior vice president of government affairs, who has helped Piehl win grant funding for his program. "He's passionate about what he's doing, about the fact that we can prevent this, and that's just contagious."

Piehl's wife, Meggan, says he thrives on the challenge of solving complex problems, testing new ideas and recruiting other people to help him carry them out. When he is excited about an idea, she says, his energy is boundless.

"I think if you love what you do, it gives you more energy to do it well," she says.

Piehl works long hours, getting by on four or five hours' sleep and often working all night. But he doesn't let the job consume him. He takes time to practice what he preaches.

Every day, he comes home to Chapel Hill and romps with his three children, 8, 6 and 3. They hike, take bike rides, splash in the pool.

It's much more fun, he says, than watching TV.

BIO

BORN: Winston-Salem, Jan. 12, 1967.

FAMILY: Wife, Meggan, and three children: Charlie, 8, Katie, 6, and Elizabeth, 3.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in German from Davidson College; Master of Public Health and medical degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

PROFESSION: Director of WakeMed's pediatric diabetes program and doctor in Wakemed's pediatric critical care and inpatient pediatrics divisions.

HOBBIES: Running and biking.

INDULGENCE: Homemade chocolate chip cookies.

FIRST JOB: Working at McDonald's in high school.

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