Harvard Catalyst Profiles

The primary focus of my research has been on the epidemiology of chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease and cancer, and especially among women. I am Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator of four large-scale randomized clinical trials or their observational follow-up: the Women's Health Study, a primary prevention trial that evaluated the balance of benefits and risks of low dose aspirin and vitamin E on cardiovascular disease and cancer among 40,000 female health professionals; the Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study, a secondary prevention trial that evaluated the roles of vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene and folic acid/B6/B12 among 8,000 women with a prior history of heart disease; the Physicians' Health Study II, that evaluated vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene and a multivitamin among 15,000 male physicians; and the Brigham and Women's Hospital Vanguard Center of the Women's Health Initiative, that evaluated the roles of low-fat diet, postmenopausal hormones, and calcium/vitamin D supplementation among over 70,000 women nationwide.

I am actively involved in the teaching and training of students and fellows in epidemiology, both nationally and internationally. I serve as Director of EPI 200: Principles of Epidemiology, a core course at the Harvard School of Public Health, am Director of a T32 NRSA Training Grant funded by the NIA in the Epidemiology of Aging, and Co-Program Director of a similar training grant in the Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease, funded by the NHLBI.