Jose R. Romero, MD

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Romero completed residency training in neurology at Boston University Medical Campus and fellowship training in vascular neurology at Boston University Medical Campus. He received his medical degree from the Escuela Cololmbiana de Medicina in Colombia. He also completed studies for a Master in Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health.
Dr. Romero is an active investigator in the Framingham Heart Study since 2006.

Research Interests
Dr. Romero’s research interests center on the study of cerebrovascular disease in subclinical stages, prevention of stroke, cognitive impairment and dementia and use of neuroimaging in the epidemiological study of cerebrovascular disease. His focus is in the interplay of cerebrovascular disease with the neurodegenerative process, and contributions to clinical stroke and dementia. Much of his current work centers on the epidemiological study of brain MRI markers of cerebral small vessel disease, their determinants and clinical consequences. As a board-certified neurologist and vascular neurologist, his clinical interests are in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with stroke, with particular emphasis in racial minority populations. He runs a stroke prevention clinic and is an active member in the Stroke Unit at Boston Medical Center. He is the site PI of several clinical trials for acute stroke treatment and secondary prevention. He has written widely on stroke, cerebrovascular disease in subclinical stages, and epidemiology of stroke and dementia. He has participated as study section reviewer in the NIH- and has obtained grant funding from NIH-NIA for his research support. Dr. Romero has presented the results of his research widely at national and international level and has been invited to participate in several international consortia of experts in cerebrovascular disease. Dr. Romero has contributed significantly to our understanding of cerebral microbleeds in the general population and is now leading the study of enlarged perivascular spaces in the Framingham Heart Study cohorts.

Publications

  • Published 11/6/2025

    Pinheiro A, Aparicio H, Lioutas VA, Beiser A, Ekenze O, DeCarli C, Seshadri S, Demissie S, Romero JR. Higher Burden of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Is Associated With Risk of Incident Stroke in Community-Dwelling Individuals. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Nov 06; e040263. PMID: 41195792.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/25/2025

    Toro A, Lara FR, Pinheiro A, Demissie S, DeCarli C, Parva P, Habes M, Charidimou A, Seshadri S, Maillard P, Romero JR. Association of MRI-Visible Perivascular Spaces with Early White Matter Injury. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Sep 25. PMID: 40461258.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/15/2025

    Pinheiro A, Ekenze O, Aparicio HJ, Beiser AS, Decarli CS, Demissie S, Seshadri S, Romero JR. Multimarker Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Score and Risk of Incident Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study. Neurology. 2025 Oct 07; 105(7):e214113. PMID: 40953349.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/24/2025

    Liu M, Khasiyev F, Spagnolo-Allende A, Sanchez DL, Andrews H, Yang Q, Beiser A, Qiao Y, Romero JR, Rundek T, Brickman AM, Manly JJ, Elkind MS, Seshadri S, Chen C, Del Brutto OH, Hilal S, Wasserman BA, Tosto G, Fornage M, Gutierrez J. Multi-population genome-wide association study identifies multiple novel loci associated with asymptomatic intracranial large artery stenosis. Int J Stroke. 2025 Aug 24; 17474930251374471. PMID: 40851121.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/21/2025

    Araujo-Contreras R, Pinheiro AA, Ekenze O, Sisto J, Aparicio HJ, Beiser A, Himali JJ, Lioutas V, DeCarli C, Seshadri S, Demissie S, Romero JR. Multi-marker cerebral small vessel disease score and risk of incident depression: The Framingham Heart Study. J Affect Disord. 2025 Aug 21; 392:120089. PMID: 40848767.

    Read at: PubMed

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Other Positions

  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study

Websites

Education

  • Escuela Colombiana de Medicina, MD

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