Biography

Dr. Abbas Kitabchi came to America as a 17-year-old Iranian student in the early 1950’s. Heearned aBachelor of Science degree from Cornell College (1954) and went on to earn a Master of Sciencedegree (1956), doctorate degree(1958), and medical degree (1965) at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City. After completion of his clinical fellowship in Endocrinology,with the late Dr. Robert H. Williams at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1968, he was recruited to Memphis, first as Associate Chief of Staff for Research & Education at the VA Hospital (1968-1972) and then as Director of Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism (1973-2009). He was also Director of the Clinical Research Center at UTHSC, and is a tenured Professor of Medicine and Molecular Sciences.

Dr. Kitabchi has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator for four  multicenter National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored studies (DPP/DPOS, DCCT/EDIC, Look AHEAD, and GRADE); and still serves as the principal investigator for an ADA clinical grant studying the effects of diet composition on weight loss and metabolic parameters in prediabetic women.
Hiswork on pathogenesis of DKA and lowdoseinsulin therapy has provided guidelines for the American Diabetes Association (Diabetes Care 2001, 2006, and 2009), and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, where his method of treatment has become the standard of therapy for hyperglycemic crises. As a result, physicians worldwide adopting his pioneered approach. Prior to 1980 the mortality rate for DKA in the U.S. was in excess of 15%. Following demonstration of the effectiveness of low dose insulin with its elegantly simple protocol, the mortality rate inthe U.S. fell to 1% (available at: www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/mortalitydka).

Dr. Kitabchi has trained more than 80 fellows in Endocrinology and has providedresilient leadership at UTHSC in research and clinical development of trainees and faculty members and has published more than 300original articles, book chapters, and reviews.  In January 2014, after 40+years of sustained scholarship and contribution to UTHSC, Dr. Kitabchi retired from full-time service. He now continues his research and academic pursuits on a part-time basis.