❮ Back to Researchers

Lawrence A. Leiter

MDCM, FRCPC, FACP, FACE, FAHA

Investigator

Email: Lawrence.Leiter@unityhealth.to
Tel: 416-867-7441

Research Programs

Biography

Please note: Dr. Leiter is not taking any summer students.

Dr. Lawrence A. Leiter is Director of the Lipid Clinic, Associate Director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre and an Associate Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.  From 2000-2010, he was Head of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Leiter has several research interests including clinical trials on the prevention of atherosclerosis, especially in diabetes, and the dietary and pharmacologic treatment of diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and obesity. He has over 750 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He was an investigator in many of the landmark diabetes trials including the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD), and Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron MR Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) and is on the Steering Committees of many ongoing outcome trials in both the diabetes and lipid areas. In 2018, 2019, and 2020 he was a Clarivate Analytics Top 1% Highly Cited Researcher

Dr. Leiter is a past President of the Canadian Society of Endocrinology & Metabolism (CSEM) and a past Chair of the Clinical and Scientific Section of the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA). He has been involved in many national and international committees and consensus conferences including those of the International Diabetes Federation, CDA, Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (Dyslipidemia), and Obesity Canada.

For his work, he has received a number of awards including the CDA Frederick G. Banting Award and the American Diabetes Association Charles H Best Award (awarded to DCCT investigators), both for Distinguished Service. In 2016, Dr. Leiter received the Canadian Diabetes Association Long Term Achievement Award for Research and the Canadian Society of Endocrinology’s Robert Volpe Distinguished Service Award. He was also the inaugural winner of the St. Michael’s Hospital Complete Physician Award in 2009.  In 2019 was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

Recent Publications

  1. Goldberg, AC, Banach, M, Catapano, AL, Duell, PB, Leiter, LA, Hanselman, JC et al.. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of bempedoic acid in women and men: Pooled analyses from phase 3 trials. Atherosclerosis. 2023; :117192. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117192. PubMed PMID:37648637 .
  2. Liu, Q, Chiavaroli, L, Ayoub-Charette, S, Ahmed, A, Khan, TA, Au-Yeung, F et al.. Fructose-containing food sources and blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials. PLoS One. 2023;18 (8):e0264802. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264802. PubMed PMID:37582096 PubMed Central PMC10427023.
  3. Pitt, B, Bhatt, DL, Szarek, M, Cannon, CP, Leiter, LA, McGuire, DK et al.. Effect of Sotagliflozin on Early Mortality and Heart Failure-Related Events: A Post Hoc Analysis of SOLOIST-WHF. JACC Heart Fail. 2023;11 (8 Pt 1):879-889. doi: 10.1016/j.jchf.2023.05.026. PubMed PMID:37558385 .
  4. Neves, JS, Borges-Canha, M, Vasques-Nóvoa, F, Green, JB, Leiter, LA, Granger, CB et al.. GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Therapy With and Without SGLT2 Inhibitors in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2023;82 (6):517-525. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2023.05.048. PubMed PMID:37532422 .
  5. Verma, S, Kosmopoulos, A, Bhatt, DL, Fitchett, D, Ofstad, AP, Wanner, C et al.. Generalizability of REDUCE-IT eligibility criteria in a large diabetes cardiovascular outcomes trial: A post hoc subgroup analysis of EMPA-REG outcome: Analysis of EMPA-REG OUTCOME using REDUCE-IT criteria. Am J Prev Cardiol. 2023;15 :100510. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpc.2023.100510. PubMed PMID:37384110 PubMed Central PMC10293663.
  6. Koenig, W, Ray, KK, Landmesser, U, Leiter, LA, Schwartz, GG, Wright, RS et al.. Efficacy and safety of inclisiran in patients with cerebrovascular disease: ORION-9, ORION-10, and ORION-11. Am J Prev Cardiol. 2023;14 :100503. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpc.2023.100503. PubMed PMID:37252442 PubMed Central PMC10209488.
  7. Yeung, AM, Huang, J, Pandey, A, Hashim, IA, Kerr, D, Pop-Busui, R et al.. Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Heart Failure in People with Diabetes: A Consensus Report from Diabetes Technology Society. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2023;79 :65-79. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2023.05.002. PubMed PMID:37178991 .
  8. Lachaine, J, Charron, JN, Gregoire, JC, Hegele, RA, Leiter, LA. Cost-Effectiveness of Icosapent Ethyl (IPE) for the Reduction of the Risk of Ischemic Cardiovascular Events in Canada. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2023;15 :295-308. doi: 10.2147/CEOR.S377935. PubMed PMID:37101608 PubMed Central PMC10124620.
  9. Verma, S, Husain, M, Madsen, CM, Leiter, LA, Kuhlman, AB, Vilsbøll, T et al.. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predicts cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes: Post hoc analysis of the SUSTAIN 6 and PIONEER 6 cardiovascular outcomes trials. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2023;25 (8):2398-2401. doi: 10.1111/dom.15088. PubMed PMID:37046366 .
  10. Verma, S, David, JP, Leiter, LA, Michelsen, MM, Rasmussen, S, Bhatt, DL et al.. Semaglutide reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events consistently across baseline triglyceride levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: Post hoc analyses of the SUSTAIN 6 and PIONEER 6 trials. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2023;25 (8):2388-2392. doi: 10.1111/dom.15081. PubMed PMID:37016488 .
Search PubMed

Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Director, Lipid Clinic, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Associate Director, Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Professor, Departments of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto