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Silva Arslanian, MD

  • Richard L. Day Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical and Translational Science, Director, Pediatric Clinical and Translational Research Center (PCTRC), and Scientific Director, Center for Pediatric Research in Obesity and Metabolism (CPROM)

Administrative Assistant: Marcy Vecchio

Silva Arslanian, MD is professor of pediatrics and clinical and translational science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She holds the Richard L. Day Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She is the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Pediatric Clinical and Translational Research Center, and the scientific director of the Center for Pediatric Research in Obesity & Metabolism at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She was the founding director of the Weight Management & Wellness Center.

Arslanian obtained her medical degree from the American University of Beirut and completed her pediatric residency training at the same institution. She completed her fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Arslanian is funded by NIH, research foundations and pharmaceutical companies. Her research focus is insulin sensitivity and beta cell function during childhood growth and development, in health and disease (obesity, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome PCOS), and racial contrast in risk for the aforementioned. She has served the national and international scientific communities in various capacities. She has been a member of several consensus panels including the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology “Childhood Insulin Resistance," the Endocrine Society “PCOS Guidelines," the Endocrine Society “Childhood Obesity Guidelines," the American Diabetes Association (ADA) “Type 2 diabetes in youth," and the International Study of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) “Type 2 diabetes in youth."

Arslanian is the recipient of several prestigious awards for her seminal contributions in advancing scientific discoveries in pediatric insulin resistance, beta cell function and type 2 diabetes. She has more than 250 publications and has been an invited lecturer and chairperson at various national and international congresses.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Diabetes Association, 1986-Present
  • Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, 1987-Present   
  • Midwest Society for Pediatric Research, 1987
  • Pittsburgh Pediatric Society, 1987
  • Eastern Society for Pediatric Research, 1988
  • International Diabetes Federation, 1989
  • The International Study Group on Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (ISGD), 1990
  • Society for Pediatric Research, 1991
  • The Endocrine Society, 1991-Present
  • AADE, 1992
  • Board of Directors, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 1990-1994
  • Medical Advisory Board, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 1994-Present
  • Diabetes Committee, Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, 1995-1998
  • Diabetes Advisory Committee, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 1996-Present
  • Diabetes Stakeholders Group, Pennsylvania Department of Health, 2003-Present
  • Allegheny County Medical Society, Obesity Task Force, 2003-Present
  • Health Care Committee of Childhood Obesity Group - Highmark, 2004-Present 
  • The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC); Health Plan Expert Obesity Work Group, 2004-Present
  • Obesity Task Force, Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society (LWPES), 2004-Present
  • American Pediatric Society, 2004-Present
  • Board of Directors, Endocrine Fellows Foundation, 2004

Selected Publications

Kim JY, Nasr A, Tfayli H, Bacha F, Michaliszyn S, Arslanian S: Increased Lipolysis, Diminished Adipose Tissue Insulin Sensitivity and Impaired β-cell Function Relative to Adipose Tissue Insulin Sensitivity in Obese Youth with Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT). Diabetes 66(12):3085-3090, 2017. [PMID: 28887312; PMC5697947] 

Arslanian S, Kim JY, Nasr A, Bacha F, Tfayli H, Lee S, Toledo FGS: Insulin Sensitivity Across the Lifespan from Obese Adolescents to Obese Adults with Impaired Glucose Tolerance: Who is Worse Off? Pediatr Diabetes 19(2):205-211, 2018 [PMID: 28726334].

Kim JY, Tfayli H, Michaliszyn S, Arslanian S: Impaired Lipolysis, Diminished Fat oxidation and Metabolic Inflexibility in Obese Girls with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab 103(2): 546-554, 2018. [PMID: 29220530] [PMC5800835]

Hannon TS, Watson SE, Jalou HE, Chakravorty S, Mather KJ, Arslanian SA: Characteristics of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Across the Spectrum of Glucose Tolerance in Obese Adolescents. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 9:281, 2018.  [PMID: 29910773]

Grespan E, Giorgino T, Arslanian S, Natali A, Ferrannini E, Mari A: Defective Amplifying Pathway of b-Cell Secretory Response to Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes: Integrated Modeling of In Vitro and In Vivo Evidence. Diabetes 67:496–506, 2018. [PMID: 29229615]

Tricò D, Natali A, Arslanian S, Mari A, Ferrannini E: Identification, pathophysiology, and clinical implications of primary insulin hypersecretion in nondiabetic adults and adolescents. JCI Insight 20;3(24), 2018. [PMID: 30568042; PMCID: PMC6338316]

Lee SJ and Arslanian SA: Body Composition and Cardiorespiratory Fitness Between Metabolically Healthy Versus Metabolically Unhealthy Obese Black and White Adolescents. J Adolesc Health 64(3): 327–332, 2019. [PMID: 30389203]

Lee SJ, Libman I, Hughan K, Kuk J, Jeong J, Zhang D, Arslanian SA: Effects of Exercise Modality on Insulin Resistance and Ectopic Fat in Adolescents with Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Pediatr. 206:91-98, 2019. [PMID: 30554789] 

Kim JY, Bacha F, Tfayli H, Michaliszyn SF, Yousuf S, Arslanian S: Adipose Tissue Insulin Resistance in Youth on the Spectrum from Normal Weight to Obese and From Normal Glucose Tolerance to Impaired Glucose Tolerance to Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 42(2):265-272, 2019. [PMID:30455334] [PMC6341282]

Kim JY, Tfayli H, Bacha F, Lee SJ, Michaliszyn SF, Yousuf S, Gebara N, Arslanian S: β-cell Function, Incretin Response, and Insulin Sensitivity of Glucose and Fat Metabolism in Obese Youth: Relationship to OGTT Time to Glucose Peak. Pediatric Diabetes 21:18–27, 2020. [PMID:  31677208] 

Rajakumar K, Moore CG, Khalid AT, Vallejo AN, Virji MA, Holick MF, Greenspan S, Arslanian S, Reis S, Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Vascular and Metabolic Health of Vitamin D-deficient Overweight and Obese Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Am J Clin Nutr 111:757–768, 2020. [PMID: 31950134; PMCID: PMC7138671]

Full Publication List via NIH PubMed »

Research Grants

NIH 5UL1TR001857-03, Pediatric Clinical & Translational Research Center (Director-Pediatric Program, 15% effort), 2006-2021, $5,555,128.

NIH 1R01DK110456-01A1, Behavioral Adherence in Emerging Adults with Type 2 Diabetes (Ancillary to T2P2) (Pittsburgh PI, 5% effort, PI: Paula Trief, PhD), 2017-2021, $4,000.

Novo Nordisk NN9536-4451, A Phase 3A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled, Multi-center Clinical Trial Designed to Assess the Effect and Safety of Semaglutide 2.4 mg Once Weekly on Weight Management in Adolescents who are Overweight or Obese (PI), 2019-2021, $171,150.

Eli Lilly & Company, Inc., Randomized, Double-Blind Study with an Open-Label Extension Comparing the Effect of Once-Weekly Dulaglutide with Placebo in Pediatric Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Melitus (Award-Peds: Assessment of Weekly Administration of LY2189265 in Diabetes- Pediatric Study) (PI), 2017-2022, $113,720.

NIH 1UG3OD023349-01, Pre- and Postnatal Exposure Periods for Child Health: Common Risks and Shared Mechanisms (Co-I, 5% effort, PI: Thomas O'Conner, PhD), 2018-2023, $107,496.

NERI, Dyslipidemia of Obesity Intervention in Teens (DO IT!) Trial (Pittsburgh PI, 5% effort, PI: Brian McCrindle, MD), 2018-2024, $232,500.