Chester V. Oddis, MD

Chester V. Oddis, MD is a noted researcher in the clinical, epidemiological and serologic description of the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. He has completed epidemiological studies on the incidence of polymyositis and dermatomyositis as well as longitudinal studies on functional disability in myositis patients. His focus has been in the autoantibody patterns in patients with inflammatory myopathy and their peculiar immunogenetic associations.

Dr. Oddis has written extensively on the diagnosis and management of patients with myositis. He has published and lectured on the use of novel immunosuppressive agents such as tacrolimus (formerly FK506) in the treatment of patients with refractory myositis. This represents the only reported experience of this particular drug in the pharmacologic treatment of inflammatory myopathy. In collaboration with the Department of Neurology, he has assessed the efficacy and utility of outpatient needle muscle biopsy in the diagnosis of inflammatory myopathy. This is important given the cost-containment focus of the current health-care market.

Dr. Oddis is the co-investigator on an important national NIH funded study on the efficacy of doxycycline in preventing the progression of knee osteoarthritis in middle-aged women. This study is the first of its kind in assessing the effect of a disease-modifying agent in osteoarthritis.

Board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology, Dr. Oddis received his medical degree from Pennsylvania State University, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Penn State and fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.