Christopher J. O'Donnell, MD

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

Biography

Dr. O’Donnell research is broadly focused on the epidemiology of complex cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death and disability in men and women. More specifically, Dr. O’Donnell has focused on the genetic and genomic epidemiology of clinical and subclinical forms of atherosclerosis, ventricular hypertrophy and thrombosis. A large genome-wide association study is being directed by Dr. O’Donnell in a large, well-phenotyped prospective study of multigenerational families drawn from a general population (the NHLBI’s Framingham Heart Study SHARe Project). Heritable clinical and intermediate CVD phenotypes of interest include premature onset CVD, circulating biomarkers (e.g., hemostasis and thrombosis factors) and subclinical atherosclerosis detected by high resolution cardiovascular imaging (e.g., coronary artery calcium by cardiac computed tomography and aortic plaque detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging). Using both genome-wide linkage and newer association methods, Dr. O’Donnell’s group has identified a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotypes with evidence for causal associations with atherosclerosis, hypertrophy and thrombosis. The long-term goal for this marriage of genomic science with well-designed studies of human populations is to better understand the etiology of CVD and to discover new targets for preventing, pre-empting and treating CVD.

Publications

  • Published 4/15/2025

    Dimmeler S, Ferri L, Nioi P, O'Donnell CJ, Damy T, Gómez-Outes A, Giacca M, Guo W, Kavousi M, Kupatt C, Landmesser U, Schunkert H, Zouridakis E, Elliott PM. Translation of genomics into routine cardiological practice: insights from a European Society of Cardiology Cardiovascular Round Table. Eur Heart J. 2025 Apr 15; 46(15):1384-1393. PMID: 39969133.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/14/2025

    Meena D, Huang J, Zare M, Hasbani NR, Romuald BP, Mustafa R, van der Laan SW, Xu H, Terry JG, Bis JC, Jain D, Palmer ND, Heard-Costa N, Min YI, Guo X, Yao J, Taylor KD, Tan J, Peralta J, Pereira AC, Khan A, Choudhury A, Newman AB, Xiang AH, Hingorani A, Freedman BI, O'Donnell CJ, Giambartolomei C, Herrington DM, Jacobs DR, Klarin D, Wang FF, Heiss G, Doddapaneni H, Hodis HN, Broome J, Wilson JG, Brandenburg JT, Blangero J, Krieger JE, Smith JD, Viaud-Martinez KA, Ryan KA, Lange LA, Montasser ME, Mahaney MC, Mokry M, Fornage M, Munroe P, Gibbs RA, Tracy RP, Kim RW, Damrauer SM, Rich SS, Hsueh WA, Chen YI, Morrison AC, Mitchell BD, Carr JJ, Psaty BM, Bowden DW, Vasan RS, Correa A, Post WS, Goodarzi MO, Raffel LJ, Curran JE, Ramsay M, Rotter JI, Elliott P, Franceschini N, de Vries PS, Tzoulaki I, Dehghan A. Genome-wide association study and multi-ancestry meta-analysis identify common variants associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness. medRxiv. 2025 Apr 14. PMID: 40321265.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/11/2025

    Zhang X, Brody JA, Graff M, Highland HM, Chami N, Xu H, Wang Z, Ferrier KR, Chittoor G, Josyula NS, Meyer M, Gupta S, Li X, Li Z, Allison MA, Becker DM, Bielak LF, Bis JC, Boorgula MP, Bowden DW, Broome JG, Buth EJ, Carlson CS, Chang KM, Chavan S, Chiu YF, Chuang LM, Conomos MP, DeMeo DL, Du M, Duggirala R, Eng C, Fohner AE, Freedman BI, Garrett ME, Guo X, Haiman C, Heavner BD, Hidalgo B, Hixson JE, Ho YL, Hobbs BD, Hu D, Hui Q, Hwu CM, Jackson RD, Jain D, Kalyani RR, Kardia SLR, Kelly TN, Lange EM, LeNoir M, Li C, Le Marchand L, McDonald MN, McHugh CP, Morrison AC, Naseri T, O'Connell J, O'Donnell CJ, Palmer ND, Pankow JS, Perry JA, Peters U, Preuss MH, Rao DC, Regan EA, Reupena SM, Roden DM, Rodriguez-Santana J, Sitlani CM, Smith JA, Tiwari HK, Vasan RS, Wang Z, Weeks DE, Wessel J, Wiggins KL, Wilkens LR, Wilson PWF, Yanek LR, Yoneda ZT, Zhao W, Zöllner S, Arnett DK, Ashley-Koch AE, Barnes KC, Blangero J, Boerwinkle E, Burchard EG, Carson AP, Chasman DI, Ida Chen YD, Curran JE, Fornage M, Gordeuk VR, He J, Heckbert SR, Hou L, Irvin MR, Kooperberg C, Minster RL, Mitchell BD, Nouraie M, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Reiner AP, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Benjamin Shoemaker M, Smith NL, Taylor KD, Telen MJ, Weiss ST, Zhang Y, Heard-Costa N, Sun YV, Lin X, Cupples LA, Lange LA, Liu CT, Loos RJF, North KE, Justice AE. Whole genome sequencing analysis of body mass index identifies novel African ancestry-specific risk allele. Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 11; 16(1):3470. PMID: 40216759.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/18/2025

    Smith WB, Nguyen D, Clough T, Schofield J, Kagan MR, Kompa J, He Y, Maratos-Flier E, Jamontt J, Vong L, Schwartzkopf CD, Layne JD, Usera AR, O'Donnell CJ, Heldwein KA, Streeper RS, Goldfine AB. A Growth Differentiation Factor 15 Receptor Agonist in Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials in Healthy or Obese Persons. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Feb 18; 110(3):771-786. PMID: 39148430.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/4/2024

    Yu YH, Pridgen KM, Nelson TJ, Miller DR, Wells JM, Assimes TL, O'Donnell CJ, Tsao PS, Chang KM, Lynch JA. Oral Health, Inflammation, and Cardiometabolic Factors in the VA Million Veteran Program. JDR Clin Trans Res. 2024 Dec 04; 23800844241291780. PMID: 39629945.

    Read at: PubMed

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Websites

Education

  • Harvard Medical School, MD

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