J. Michael Gaziano, MD

Adjunct Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Michael J. Gaziano, MD, MPH is an internationally recognized chronic disease epidemiologist and trialist. He received his MD from Yale Medical School and his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.

At the VA Boston Healthcare System, he is one of the Director the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), a national epidemiology and trial center funded by CSR&D where he directs the epidemiology research center. He is national PI for the Million Veteran Program (MVP), a large project designed to enroll a million veterans into a large observational cohort with stored biospecimens. He also serves as the director of the Boston Geriatric Research and Education Center (GRECC). At VA Boston he runs a preventive cardiology program with an associated fellowship. He is the Chief of the Division of Aging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he is principal investigator for the ongoing Physicians' Health Study (PHS) II study, a large-scale trial of vitamins in the prevention of chronic disease. The Physicians’ Health Study cohort is comprised of 29,000 physicians who have been followed for up to 28 years. He is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Gaziano’s research interests include the epidemiology of chronic diseases, with a particular interest in the roles that individual lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, smoking), metabolic factors (obesity, high cholesterol, and hypertension), and biochemical and genetic markers play on the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke. Also of interest is the impact that vascular disease has on other organ systems. Recently, Dr. Gaziano has initiated a number of research projects to investigate the diverse nature of atherosclerosis. While atherosclerosis plaques form only in certain large and medium-sized vessels, the process of atherogenesis affects arteries of all sizes. For example, renal dysfunction, cognitive decline and osteoporosis-related fractures have been linked to various cardiovascular disease risk factors, suggesting a role for small vessel disease in vascular dementia, in abnormal bone remodeling and chronic renal disease. These projects are intended to explore the extent to which atherosclerotic disease in small vessels leads to these and other chronic conditions.

He has published over 350 original reports, reviews, book chapters, and books. He teaches advanced epidemiology and has mentored over 50 trainees. He is a contributing editor for JAMA.

Publications

  • Published 8/29/2025

    Shi J, Swanson SA, Diemer EW, Gerlovin H, Posner DC, Wilson PWF, Gaziano JM, Cho K, Hernán MA, Va Million Veteran Program OBOT. Mendelian randomization, lipids and coronary artery disease: trade-offs between study designs and assumptions. Am J Epidemiol. 2025 Aug 29. PMID: 40878746.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/24/2025

    Sherva R, Zhu C, Zhang R, Mez J, Hauger R, Merritt VC, Panizzon M, Gaziano JM, Catanzaro V, Schellenberg GD, Pericak-Vance M, Haines JL, Wang LS, Mayeux R, Farrer LA, Logue MW. Genome-wide association studies of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders stratified by sex, onset age, and Apolipoprotein E genotype reveal novel risk loci in African Americans. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2025 Jul 24; 17(1):171. PMID: 40708016.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/21/2025

    Galimberti M, Levey DF, Deak JD, Adhikari K, Overstreet C, Gupta P, Nitin R, Zhou H, Lake NJ, Harrington KM, Djousse L, Davis LK, Gaziano JM, Stein MB, Gelernter J. A contextual genomic perspective on physical activity and its relationship to health, well being and illness. Nat Genet. 2025 Aug; 57(8):1860-1871. PMID: 40691405.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/18/2025

    Nicolas A, Sherva R, Grenier-Boley B, Kim Y, Kikuchi M, Timsina J, de Rojas I, Dalmasso MC, Zhou X, Le Guen Y, Arboleda-Bustos CE, Camargos Bicalho MA, Guerchet M, van der Lee S, Goss M, Castillo A, Bellenguez C, Küçükali F, Satizabal CL, Fongang B, Yang Q, Peters O, Schneider A, Dichgans M, Rujescu D, Scherbaum N, Deckert J, Riedel-Heller S, Hausner L, Molina-Porcel L, Düzel E, Grimmer T, Wiltfang J, Heilmann-Heimbach S, Moebus S, Tegos T, Scarmeas N, Dols-Icardo O, Moreno F, Pérez-Tur J, Bullido MJ, Pastor P, Sánchez-Valle R, Álvarez V, Cao H, Ip NY, Fu AKY, Ip FCF, Olivar N, Muchnik C, Cuesta C, Campanelli L, Solis P, Politis DG, Kochen S, Brusco LI, Boada M, García-González P, Puerta R, Mir P, Real LM, Piñol-Ripoll G, García-Alberca JM, Royo JL, Rodriguez-Rodriguez E, Soininen H, Heikkinen S, de Mendonça A, Mehrabian S, Traykov L, Hort J, Vyhnalek M, Rasmussen KL, Thomassen JQ, Pijnenburg YAL, Holstege H, van Swieten JC, Seelaar H, Claassen JAHR, Jansen WJ, Ramakers I, Verhey F, van der Lugt A, Scheltens P, Ortega-Rojas J, Concha Mera AG, Mahecha MF, Pardo R, Arboleda G, Bahrami S, Fominykh V, Selbæk G, Graff C, Papenberg G, Giedraitis V, Boland A, Deleuze JF, de Marco LA, de Moraes EN, de Mattos Viana B, Túlio Gualberto Cintra M, Juarez-Cedillo T, Griswold AJ, Forund T, Haines J, Farrer L, DeStefano A, Wijsman E, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance M, Kunkle B, Goate A, Schellenberg GD, Vardarajan B, Wang LS, Leung YY, Dalgard CL, Nicolas G, Wallon D, Dufouil C, Pasquier F, Hanon O, Debette S, Grünblatt E, Popp J, Angel B, Gloger S, Chacon MV, Aranguiz R, Orellana P, Slachevsky A, Gonzalez-Billault C, Albala C, Fuentes P, Sachdev P, Mather KA, Hauger RL, Merritt V, Panizzon M, Zhang R, Gaziano JM, Ghidoni R, Galimberti D, Arosio B, Mecocci P, Solfrizzi V, Parnetti L, Squassina A, Tremolizzo L, Borroni B, Nacmias B, Caffarra P, Seripa D, Rainero I, Daniele A, Piras F, Leonard HL, Yokoyama JS, Nalls MA, Miyashita A, Hara N, Ozaki K, Niida S, Williams J, Masullo C, Amouyel P, Preux PM, Mbelesso P, Bandzouzi B, Saykin A, Jessen F, Kehoe PG, Van Duijn C, Ben Salem N, Frikke-Schmidt R, Cherni L, Greicius MD, Tsolaki M, Sánchez-Juan P, Romano Silva MA, Porter T, Laws SM, Sleegers K, Ingelsson M, Dartigues JF, Seshadri S, Rossi G, Morelli L, Hiltunen M, Sims R, van der Flier W, Andreassen OA, Arboleda H, Cruchaga C, Escott-Price V, Ruiz A, Lee KH, Ikeuchi T, Ramirez A, Gim J, Logue M, Lambert JC. Transferability of European-derived Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk scores across multiancestry populations. Nat Genet. 2025 Jul; 57(7):1598-1610. PMID: 40533518.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/21/2025

    Hamaya R, Rist PM, Kupelian V, Gotter AL, Sohn J, Rubel CE, Gaziano JM, Manson JE, Sesso HD. Short- and long-term natural history of three neurodegenerative biomarkers among middle-aged and older adults. J Neuromuscul Dis. 2025 Sep; 12(5):670-678. PMID: 40396978.

    Read at: PubMed

Education

  • Yale University School of Medicine, MD
  • Harvard School of Public Health, MPH
  • West Virginia University, BA