Claudia L. Satizabal, PhD

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Prior to joining the Framingham Heart Study in 2013, Satizabal earned her doctorate degree, studying the relationship between inflammatory proteins and cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative MRI markers of abnormal brain aging in the French Three-City Study at the INSERM Neuro-Epidemiology laboratory of the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. In 2007, she was awarded a two-year Utrecht Excellence Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in epidemiology from Utrecht University. In addition to her work at BUSM and the FHS, Satizabal is actively involved in the neurology and cognitive working groups of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, where she leads projects investigating the genetic variation in fine motor speed, visual memory, and subcortical brain structures. She participates in several other international collaborations including the AD Cohorts Consortium and the replication phase of the AD sequencing project. She is currently investigating the impact of midlife obesity, as well as different dietary, inflammatory and neurotrophic biomarkers, in association with stroke, cognitive function, MRI markers of abnormal brain aging and dementia.

Publications

  • Published 1/25/2026

    Sun X, Liu X, Bulekova K, Pitsillides AN, Guo X, Yong Q, Raffield LM, Rotter JI, Rich SS, Abecasis G, Carson AP, Vasan RS, Bis JC, Psaty BM, Boerwinkle E, Fitzpatrick AL, Satizabal CL, Arking DE, Ding J, Levy D, Liu C. ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIAL HETEROPLASMIC VARIANTS AND CARDIOMETABOLIC TRAITS. medRxiv. 2026 Jan 25. PMID: 41659078.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/1/2026

    De Leon R, Garza S, Mejia-Arango S, Vatcheva KP, Charisis S, Satizabal C, Mena LJ, Lee JH, Terwilliger JD, Manusov E, Seshadri S, Gutierrez J, Maestre GE, Brickman AM, Melgarejo JD. Associations of Blood Pressure Level and Variability With Cortical Thickness: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From the Maracaibo Aging Study. Am J Hypertens. 2026 Jan 01; 39(1):39-47. PMID: 40878761.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/14/2025

    Wadop YN, Vasquez EL, Mathews JJ, Muhammad JAS, Pirela Mavarez R, Satizabal CL, Gonzales MM, Tanner J, Maestre G, Fonteh AN, Seshadri S, Kautz TF, Fongang B. Differential Patterns of Gut and Oral Microbiomes in Hispanic Individuals with Cognitive Impairment. Microorganisms. 2025 Oct 14; 13(10). PMID: 41156809.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/2/2025

    Wadop YN, Bernal R, Njamnshi WY, Satizabal CL, Beiser A, Ruiz A, Njamnshi AK, Vasan RS, Seshadri S, Himali JJ, Fongang B. Altered gut microbiota mediates the association between APOE genotype and amyloid-ß accumulation in middle-aged adults. J Neurol. 2025 Oct 02; 272(10):670. PMID: 41037094.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/22/2025

    Greenberg SM, Albert MS, An H, Arfanakis K, Evia AM, Caprihan A, Ford AL, Fornage M, Day GS, Hinman JD, Jicha GA, Kashani AH, Kramer JH, Lachner C, Lee JM, Liu P, Lu H, Maillard P, Petersen RC, Psaty BM, Ringman JM, Rosenberg GA, Satizabal CL, Savitz SI, Schneider JA, Seshadri S, Vemuri P, Wang DJJ, Wilcock DM, Windham BG, Zhang R, Tuozzo C, Singh H, Moy S, Okey-Ewurum V, Page CB, Mulder H, Kivisäkk P, Blacker D, Mazina L, Helmer KG, Schwab K, Wruck LM, Corriveau RA. MarkVCID2 Consortium for Clinical Validation of Biomarkers of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: Validation Framework and Baseline Characteristics. Ann Neurol. 2026 Feb; 99(2):449-458. PMID: 40977537.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 185 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study

Websites

Education

  • Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris VI), PhD
  • Utrecht University, MSc
  • Universidad de Los Andes, BSc

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