WASHINGTON (December 10, 2025) — Recently, Diabetes Care released a special issue commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS). The groundbreaking research has served as the largest and longest running study on lifestyle interventions for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. To mark the milestone, the George Washington University Biostatistics Center launched a new webpage dedicated to the DPP and DPPOS.
The DPP established that lifestyle changes or the medication metformin can effectively delay diabetes. The DPP’s success led to a national implementation of its lifestyle program through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program has helped more than 800,000 Americans at over 2000 sites learn healthy habits that can prevent or help manage diabetes.
New research published in Diabetes Care includes findings on the factors associated with 20 years of retention in a racially and geographically diverse cohort of 3234 participants with prediabetes, the familial history and risk of type 2 diabetes and more detailed findings on comorbidities of diabetes.
“Over the years, the findings from this study have provided evidence that can keep people around the world healthy,” said Marinella Temprosa, an associate research professor at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health and the principal investigator of the Diabetes Prevention Program and its Outcome Study. “This study has proven that lifestyle interventions to prevent diabetes are cost-saving. And the human impact of this study has been priceless from the perspective of some of the participants.”
The new DPP webpage includes the stories of the dedicated staff and the people who participated in the study, including many who reversed a diagnosis of diabetes or pre-diabetes with lifestyle changes, including physical activity and a healthy diet.
For example, the webpage includes this story of a participant of both DPP and DPPOS who had a diagnosis of pre-diabetes at the time she enrolled in 1997:
Pamela has now been a participant in DPP/DPPOS for more than 23 years, a remarkable contribution to scientific research—and also to her own health. Today, not only has she prevented the development of type 2 diabetes, but she no longer has prediabetes and has achieved and maintained an impressive 12 percent weight loss—a testament to her incredible dedication to maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a DPP/DPPOS participant.
Over the past three decades, the relationships built through the DPP/DPPOS collaboration has served as a model for team science to support the successful conduct and reporting of large-scale clinical studies, Temprosa said. The DPP/DPPOS program included a team of researchers, clinic staff and participants from more than 30 universities all working together toward the same goal.
The October special issue of Diabetes Care, which includes research by a team at GW and other institutions, can be accessed here.
The Diabetes Prevention Program Outcome Study website with participants’ stories can be found here.
DDP is continuing to collect stories from participants and their families. Personal stories help understand the impact of the program and inspire others on their health journey.
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