Interim Chair
Professor Epidemiology, Pediatrics and Medicine
Department of Epidemiology
A527 Crabtree Hall, GSPH
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Voice: 412-383-1032
FAX: 412-383-1020
E-mail: orchardt@edc.pitt.edu


Administrative Assistant
Donna Bushey
A528 Crabtree Hall, GSPH
Phone: (412) 624-3056
Fax: (412) 624-3737


Research Administrative Assistant
Gloria Curtis
3512 Fifth Avenue
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Voice: 412-383-1032
FAX: 412-383-1020




Research Interests

• Diabetes and cardiovascular epidemiology, with particular emphasis on insulin-dependent diabetes and lipids, management of lipid disorders

Research Support

Principal Investigator


• Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications: Phase II (2004-2014) NIDDK
• Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (2006-2016) Case Western
• Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (2003-2014) NIDDK
• Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Program for Western PA (2004-2010) UPMC/DOD

Co-Principal Investigator


• BARI II: A Trial of Revasc. & Glycemic Control in NIDDM (2000-2010) NHLBI

Medical Director

• Department of Epidemiology/Medicine: Nutrition Lipid Programm
• Department of Epidemiology/UPDI: Diabetes Prevention Support Center

Selected Publications (from past 6 years)

The Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Effects of Withdrawal From Metformin on the Development of Diabetes in the Diabetes Prevention Program. Diabetes Care 2003; 26(4): 977-980.

Orchard TJ, Olson JC, Williams K, Forrest KYZ, Kinder LS, Ellis D, Becker DJ. Insulin Resistance-Related Factors, but not Glycemia, Predict Coronary Artery Disease in Type 1 Diabetes: Ten Year Follow-up Data from the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Diabetes Care 2003; 26(5): 1374-79.

Bosnyak Z, Forrest KYZ, Maser RE, Becker D, Orchard TJ. Do Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor (PAI-1) or Tissue Plasminogen Activator PAI-1 Complexes Predict Complications in Type 1 Diabetes: The Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Diabetic Medicine 2003; 20: 147-151.

Nathan D, Lachin J, Cleary P, Orchard T, Brillon DJ, Backlund JY, O'Leary DH, Genuth S. Intensive diabetes therapy and carotid intima-media thickness in type 1 diabetes mellitus. NEJM 2003; 348(23): 2294-2303.

Soedamah-Muthu SS, Chang YF, Otvos J, Evans RW, Orchard TJ. Lipoprotein subclass measurements by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy improve the prediction of coronary artery disease in Type 1 Diabetes. A prospective report from the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Diabetologia 2003; 46: 674-682.

Ryan CM, Geckle MO, Orchard TJ. Cognitive efficiency declines over time in adults with Type 1 diabetes: effects of micro- macrovascular complications. Diabetologia 2003; 46: 940-948.

Lloyd CE, Zgibor J, Wilson RR, Barnett AH, Dyer PH, Orchard TJ. Cross-cultural comparisons of anxiety and depression in adults with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Metabolism Research and Reviews 2003; 19: 401-407.

Nishimura R, Dorman JS, Bosnyak Z, Tajima N, Becker DJ, Orchard TJ, for the Diabetes Epidemiology Research International (DERI) Mortality Study Group. Incidence of ESRD and Survival After Renal Replacement Therapy in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: A Report From the Allegheny County Registry. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 2003; 42: 117-124.

Venstrom JM, McBride MA, Rother KI, Hirshberg B, Orchard TJ, Harlan DM. Survival After Pancreas Transplantation in Patients With Diabetes and Preserved Kidney Function. JAMA 2003; 290(21): 2817-2823.

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Research Group. Intensive Diabetes Therapy and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. NEJM 2003; 348(23): 2294-2303.

Sobolewski BA, Zgibor JC, Orchard TJ. ACE Inhibitors and Calcium Channel Blockers: Patterns of Use and Associations with mortality in Type 1 Diabetes. Diab. Res. Clin. Practice 2004; 65(1): 37-43.

Kronmal RA, Barzilay JI, Tracy RP, Savage PJ, Orchard TJ, Burke GL. The Relationship of Fasting Serum Radioimmune Insulin Levels to Incident Coronary Heart Disease in an Insulin-Treated Diabetic Cohort. JCEM 2004; 89(6): 2852-2858.

Walsh MG, Zgibor JC, Borch-Johnsen, K, Orchard TJ. A multinational comparison of complications assessment in type 1 diabetes: The DiaMond Substudy of Complications (DiaComp) Level 2. Diabetes Care 2004; 27: 1610-1617.

Psaty BM, Anderson M, Kronmal RA, Tracy RP, Orchard T, Fried LP, Lumley T, Robbins J, Burke G, Newman AB, Furberg CD. The association between lipid levels and the risks of incident myocardial infarction, stroke and total mortality: the Cardiovascular Health Study. JAGS 2004; 52: 1639-1647.

Zgibor JC, Orchard TJ. Specialist and generalist care for type 1 diabetes: Differential impact on processes and outcomes. Dis. Manage. Health Outcomes 2004; 12(4): 229-238.

Costacou T, Zgibor JC, Evans RW, Otvos J, Lopes-Virella MF, Tracy RP, Orchard TJ. The prospective association between adiponectin and coronary artery disease among individuals with type 1 diabetes. The Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Diabetologia 2005; 48(1): 41-48.

Burke LE, Dunbar-Jacob J, Orchard TJ, Sereika SM. Improving adherence to a cholesterol-lowering diet: a behavioral intervention study. Patient Education and Counseling 2005; 57: 134-142.

Orchard TJ, Temprosa M, Goldberg R, Haffner S, Ratner R, Marcovina S, Fowler S, for the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Effect of metformin and lifestyle intervention on the metabolic syndrome: The Diabetes Prevention Program Randomized Trial. Ann. Int. Med. 2005; 142(8): 611-619.

Zgibor JC, Orchard TJ. Has Control of Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertension in Type 1 Diabetes Improved Over time? Diabetes Care 2005; 28: 521-526.

The DIRECT Programme Study Group. The DIabetic REtinopathy Candesartan Trials (DIRECT) Programme: baseline characteristics. JRAAS 2005; 6: 25-32.

Costacou T, Lopes-Virella MF, Zgibor JC, Virella G, Otvos J, Walsh M, Orchard TJ. Markers of endothelial dysfunction in the prediction of coronary artery disease in type 1 diabetes. The Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications 2005; 19(4): 183-193.

Cleary PA, Orchard TJ, Genuth S, Wong ND, Detrano R, Backlund J-YC, Zinman B, Jacobson A, Sun W, Lachin J, Nathan DM for the DCCT/EDIC Research Group. The Effect of Intensive Glycemic Treatment on Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetic Participants of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC Study). Diabetes 2006; 55: 3556-3565.

Costacou T, Zgibor JC, Evans RW, Tyurina YY, Kagan VE, Orchard TJ. Antioxidants and coronary artery disease among individuals with type 1 diabetes: Findings from the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications 2006; 20: 387-394.

Costacou T, Chang YF, Ferrell RE, Orchard TJ. Identifying Genetic Susceptibilities to Diabetes-related Complications among Individuals at Low Risk of Complications: An Application of Tree-Structured Survival Analysis. Am J Epidemiol 2006; 164: 862-872.

Costacou T, Huskey ND, Edmundowicz D, Stolk R, Orchard TJ. Lower-extremity arterial calcification as a correlate of coronary artery calcification. Metabolism Clinical and Experimental 2006; 55: 1689-1696.

Walsh MG, Zgibor J, Borch-Johnsen K, Orchard TJ. A multinational assessment of complications in type 1 diabetes: the DiaMond substudy of complications (DiaComp) Level 1. Diabetes & Vascular Disease Research 2006; 3(2): 84-92.

Yu Y, Thorpe SR, Jenkins AJ, Shaw JN, Sochaski MA, McGee D, Aston CE, Orchard TJ, Silvers N, Peng YG, McKnight JA, Baynes JW, Lyons, TJ, The DCCT/EDIC Research Group. Advanced glycation end-products and methionine sulfoxide in skin collagen in Type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia 2006; 49: 2488-2498.

Orchard TJ, Costacou T., Kretowski A, Nesto RW. Type 1 Diabetes and Coronary Artery Disease. Diabetes Care 2006; 29(11): 2528-2538.

Pambianco G, Costacou T, Orchard TJ. The Prediction of Major Outcomes of Type 1 Diabetes: A 12 year prospective evaluation of three separate definitions of the metabolic syndrome and their components and estimated glucose disposal rate: The Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study Experience. Diabetes Care 2007; 30(5): 1248-1254.

Prince CT, Becker DJ, Costacou T, Miller RG, Orchard TJ. Changes in glycaemic control and risk of coronary artery disease in type 1 diabetes mellitus: findings from the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study (EDC). Diabetologia 2007; 50: 2280-2288.

Costacou T, Ferrell R, Orchard TJ. Haptoglobin genotype: a determinant of cardiovascular complication risk in type 1 diabetes. Diabetes 2008; 57: 1702-1706.