My interest in diabetes started when I worked one summer at a camp for diabetic children in New York State. I was a medical student (in Britain) at the time and quite struck by the many difficulties these children had to face. I was equally impressed by their ability to adapt. As I completed my medical training, I became all too familiar with the enormous burden diabetes imposes in terms of early mortality and increased morbidity. During the last 20 years, which I have spent in Pittsburgh (Dept. of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health), my research has focused on diabetes complications in addition to cardiovascular disease and running a lipid clinic.