Kurt Christensen | Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Kurt D Christensen, Ph.D.

Title

Assistant Professor of Population Medicine

Institution

Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare

Department

Population Medicine

Address

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
Landmark Center, Department of Population Medicine
401 Park Dr
Boston MA 02215

Phone

617/867-4524

ORCID

0000-0003-4068-776X

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overview|

webpage|

research activities and funding|

selected publications|

Overview

overview

A future where genomic information is readily available is rapidly approaching. Whether this information improves public health by improving patient care and empowering prevention, or whether it diminishes public health by motivating unnecessary follow-up testing and screening is unclear. I use my training in health economics, biochemistry, public health, and health behavior and health education to address these issues by focusing on three interrelated questions: 1) How do patients and physicians respond, behaviorally and psychologically, to information generated from emerging genomic technologies like whole genome sequencing? 2) What is the healthcare service and economic impact of integrating genomics into the everyday practice of medicine? 3) How can programs be improved to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of genomic testing? The answers to these questions are essential as healthcare providers and policymakers make decisions about how to offer and support new genomic services.

webpage

	Kurt Christensen's Home Page
	Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute: Kurt Christensen

Research

research activities and funding

The research activities and funding listed below are automatically derived from NIH ExPORTER and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing items. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

Most Recent | List All

R01HD114807 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK) Sep 1, 2024 - May 31, 2029

NIH/NICHD and NIH/NHGRI

Long-term Impact and Value of Infant Genomic Sequencing (LIVING)

Role Description: We will conduct key-informant interviews to understand the needs and concerns of clinicians, health system leaders, and coordinators of newborn screening programs regarding how newborn genomic sequencing should be implemented to complement traditional newborn screening, and what systems need to be designed to maximize their utility over time for children and their families. We will also conduct follow-up studies of individuals who participated in prior clinical trials of newborn genomic sequencing to document how health care providers and families utilized genomic information as children aged, and to provide insight about the benefits and harms that may have accrued. In addition, we will develop a mathematical model to project the lifelong benefits, harms and cost-effectiveness of different strategies for reanalyzing existing genomic information over time. The goal of this study is to provide critically-needed evidence about how to implement newborn genomic sequencing, manage findings, and reanalyze data to ensure newborn genomic sequencing fulfills its promise as a tool that provides lifelong benefits to individuals and advances public health.

Role: Principal Investigator
R01HD114807 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK) Sep 1, 2024 - May 31, 2029

NIH

Long-term Impact and Value of Infant Genomic Sequencing (LIVING)

Role: Principal Investigator
OT2OD031925 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK ;HENDRICKS-STURRUP, RACHELE) Sep 15, 2022 - Aug 31, 2023

NIH

Developing a Grassroot Engagement Framework to Overcome Barriers to African American Participation in Precision Medicine Research

Role Description: The overall aim of this grant is to refine and finalize a set of actionable engagement strategies, preliminarily developed in a pilot project based on African American nurse perspectives, for engaging African American communities in precision medicine research.

Role: Principal Investigator
U01TR003201 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Jul 1, 2021 - Jun 30, 2025

NIH

Implementation of Whole Genome Sequencing as Screening in a Diverse Cohort of Healthy Infants

Role Description: The goal of this multi-site randomized controlled trial is to implement early childhood genomic screening in "real-world" primary care settings with families with diverse racial backgrounds. This study will evaluate the medical an psychosocial impact of genomic sequencing on children and their families.

Role: Co-Investigator
R01HL143295 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Jul 1, 2019 - Jun 30, 2024

NIH/NHLBI

Return of Genomic Results and Estimating Penetrance in Population-Based Cohorts

Role Description: The overall goal of the proposed research is to develop and implement a genomic return of result process in the Framingham Heart Study and Jackson Heart Study cohorts and explore associated medical, behavioral and economic outcomes. We will also develop ways to automate and streamline genomic variant interpretation at scale, and develop analyses to aid assessment of penetrance.

Role: Co-Investigator
20182750 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK) Feb 12, 2019 - Dec 31, 2022

Sanford Health

Medical/Economic ImpactT and Behavioral Responses to Integrating the Sanford ChipS (METRICS) Study

Role Description: This goal of this research agreement is to summarize the impact of integrating pharmacogenetic and disease predisposition information into patient care within primary care settings, including the effect on clinician preparedness, provider and patient behaviors, medical and economic outcomes, and familial outcomes.

Role: Principal Investigators
R01HG009922 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Sep 21, 2018 - Jun 30, 2021

NIH

Experiences and Outcomes in Early Adopters of Predispositional Sequencing

Role Description: The objective of this research is to aggregate data from, and assess the value of, personal predispositional genome sequencing among participants in present day projects focused on sequencing apparently healthy individuals.

Role: Co-Investigator
R01HD090019 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK) Sep 11, 2017 - Feb 29, 2028

NIH

Precision Medicine Policy and Treatment (PreEMPT) Model

Role Description: With hundreds of genetic tests becoming available for clinical use, adding genomic sequencing for all newborns at birth to predict and prevent future diseases is becoming a possibility. Our research aims to extend the Precision Medicine Policy and Treatment (PreEMPT) Model – a sophisticated computer model capable of simulating short- and long-term clinical benefits and estimating the cost-effectiveness of integrating different genomic sequencing strategies into clinical care for newborns for a wide variety of heritable conditions – to evaluate outcomes through adulthood and testing of siblings of newborns with mutations. We will also evaluate targeted strategies for newborn genomic sequencing with the goal of reducing race-based medical care disparities.

Role: Principal Investigator
FA8650-17-2-6704 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Jan 1, 2017 - Dec 31, 2019

DOD

MilSeq: Enabling Personalized Medicine through Exome Sequencing in the U.S. Air Force

Role Description: The goal of this project is to test a pilot protocol for integrating genomic sequencing into the care of active duty airmen.

Role: Co-Investigator
K01HG009173 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK) Sep 9, 2016 - Jun 30, 2021

NIH

Cost-effectiveness of Whole Genome Sequencing of Healthy Adults

Role Description: The central goal of this research is to determine the cost-effectiveness of integrating whole genome sequencing into the care of healthy adults. One project will assess the health impact and cumulative healthcare costs of whole genome sequencing five years after participants of a randomized controlled trial received results. A second project will extend these analyses over patients’ lifetimes using decision analytic models. Findings will inform development of clinical guidelines and reimbursement strategies to accelerate the integration of sequencing into medical care.

Role: Principal Investigator
U19HD077671 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Sep 5, 2013 - Aug 31, 2019

NIH

Genome Sequence-Based Screening for Childhood Risk and Newborn Illness

Role Description: The goal of this project is to develop a process for analyzing and reporting the results of genome sequencing in the newborn period.

Role: Co-Investigator
F32HG006993 (CHRISTENSEN, KURT DEREK) Aug 7, 2012 - Aug 6, 2014

NIH

Incidental Finding Preferences in Whole Genome Sequencing: A Randomized Trial

Role Description: The goal of this training grant was to understand how different types of incidental findings from genomic sequencing may affect the interactions between primary care providers and their patients.

Role: Principal Investigator
U01HG006500 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Dec 5, 2011 - Nov 30, 2017

NIH

Integration of Whole Genome Sequencing into Clinical Medicine

Role Description: This project explored the application of genomic sequence data to the care of patients within an active clinical setting. We are randomizing primary care and cardiology patients to receive clinical information derived from whole genome sequencing versus current standard of care.

Role: Co-Investigator
R01HG002213 (GREEN, ROBERT C.) Sep 30, 1999 - Jun 30, 2014

NIH

Risk Evaluation and Education for Alzheimer's Disease (REVEAL IV)

Role Description: The goal of this project was to assess the impact of disclosing genetic risk information about Alzheimer’s disease, including strategies for streamlining counseling, education and disclosure, the effects of disclosing secondary findings, and the impact of disclosure on individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

Role: Co-Investigator (2006-2014)

Bibliographic

selected publications

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