Om P. Ganda MD

Om P. Ganda, MD, is a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Clinical Nutrition; a senior physician in the section on adult diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA; and an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 

A co-investigator in the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), completed in 1993, Dr. Ganda has been engaged in clinical diabetes research for more than 3 decades. The DCCT demonstrated the importance of glucose control in preventing complications in type 1 diabetes. Dr. Ganda is now co-investigator of Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC), an ongoing, long-term, follow-up study.

In earlier clinical research, Dr. Ganda studied insulin secretion in undiagnosed people genetically at risk of type 1 or type 2 diabetes because they had parents or an identical twin with the disease. He contributed to the observation that autoimmune attacks on insulin-producing beta cells actually begin years before clinical symptoms lead to a definitive diagnosis.

Dr. Ganda was also a co-investigator of the Diabetes Prevention Program, which found that both lifestyle changes and medication dramatically reduced progression to type 2 diabetes in people with obesity or a family history of risk factors. Diet and exercise alone reduced the progression by 58%.

In addition to his clinical research and teaching, Dr. Ganda directs the Lipid Clinic at Joslin, where he treats patients with elevated cholesterol and triglycerides. He also studies why patients with type 2 diabetes have increased susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and elevated lipids. He is a co-investigator of several ongoing clinical trials to identify better medications for people who have difficulty with exercise and diet control.