Affiliations/other offices held: Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine on the Clinical Scholar Track, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Joined the Institute: 2010

Education and training: MBBS, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, India; residency and chief residency, Department of Internal Medicine, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California; and fellowship, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Overview/research interests: As principal investigator for multicenter randomized controlled trials and projects related to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, Dr. Chadha is responsible for oversight and mentoring of research coordinators, recruitment assistants and senior research project managers at the HealthPartners Riverside Research Clinic. She has led several clinical trials to test new treatment interventions to improve diabetes care, especially glucose control and cardiovascular risks associated with diabetes and, more recently, diabetes prevention. As an endocrinologist involved in patient care, Dr. Chadha has a vested interest in getting involved in large outcome trials that will eventually set the guidelines for how we manage prediabetes, diabetes and the growing epidemic of obesity in the future.

Research activities and funding:

Ongoing research support

• Site PI, Vitamin D to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes (Pittas) (NIDDK). The research addresses important health issues of relevance to NIDDK and ODS. Vitamin D deficiency and type 2 diabetes are highly prevalent in the U.S., and therefore the proposed study is of potential high impact given its broad applicability, especially given that the cost of supplementation or fortification with vitamin D is relatively inexpensive compared to treating the chronic phase of type 2 diabetes and its complications. We expect study results of the proposed trial, which will test whether a causal link between vitamin D and type 2 diabetes exists, to define the role of optimizing vitamin D status in modifying risk of type 2 diabetes.

Completed Research Support

• PI, Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial to Evaluate Cardiovascular Outcomes After Treatment with Sitagliptin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Inadequate Glycemic Control on Mono or Dual Combination Oral Antihyperglycemic Therapy (TECOS) (Merck & Co). The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of sitagliptin exposure upon cardiovascular events for people with Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease. The primary objective will be to compare the impact of adding Sitagliptin to usual care vs. usual care without Sitagliptin upon a composite of cardiovascular endpoints.
• PI, EXSCEL – A Multi-Center Phase III Clinical Trial Designed to Evaluate Whether Treatment with Exenatide Improves Clinical Outcomes Compared to Placebo when Administered in Addition to Standard Therapies in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (Amylin Pharmaceuticals). Patients with type 2 diabetes have high rates of cardiovascular disease and are therefore at greater risk for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. The purpose of this research study is to 1) test the safety and effectiveness of the study drug, exenatide once weekly (EQW), an extended release formulation of exenatide which is used to treat type 2 diabetes; 2) compare the likelihood of having a cardiovascular event while on typical treatment for type 2 diabetes that does not include exenatide with the likelihood of having a cardiovascular even while on typical treatment for type 2 diabetes that includes exenatide.