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 9/1/2026

    Williams AR, Houghton SC, Li Y, Gagnon D, Ho YL, Cho K, Gaziano JM, Whitbourne SB, Nguyen XT. Cross-sectional Comparison of Social Drivers of Health in The Million Veteran Program and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2011-2023). Mil Med. 2026 Sep 01; 191(9-10):e2093-e2099. PMID: 41691648.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/28/2026

    Bright U, Beck S, Levey DF, Deak JD, Gaziano JM, Stein MB, Gelernter J. The genetics of fibromyalgia and its relationships to psychiatric and medical traits. Nat Commun. 2026 Jul 28; 17(1). PMID: 42521668.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/16/2026

    Ferolito BR, Horimoto ARVR, Gravel-Pucillo K, Golden DJ, Dashti H, Giambartolomei C, Rasooly D, Matty R, Gaziano L, Tsepilov Y, Costa L, Kosik N, Ioannidis H, Karim M, Winicki G, Hunter F, Langenberg C, Whittaker JC, Cai T, Peloso GM, Zdrazil B, Ghoussaini M, Leach AR, Muralidhar S, Smit IA, Casas JP, Gaziano JM, Cho K, Pereira AC. A genomic-led strategy to anticipate drug safety effects. PLoS Genet. 2026 Jul; 22(7):e1012211. PMID: 42461796.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/10/2026

    Watling CZ, Watts EL, Loftfield E, Graubard BI, Hong HG, Zhang X, Barnett MJ, Buring JE, Barnard ME, Chen Y, Eliassen AH, Gaziano JM, Hofmann JN, Huang WY, Kang JH, Koshiol J, Lee IM, Moore SC, Mucci LA, Neuhouser ML, Newton CC, Purdue MP, Sesso HD, Shrubsole M, Sinha R, Tinker L, Triplette M, Um CY, Visvanathan K, Wactawski-Wende J, Willett WC, Wu F, Zheng W, Campbell PT, Barupal D, Petrick JL, Mcglynn KA. Circulating pre-diagnostic metabolites and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a population-based study of 12 cohorts. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Jul 10. PMID: 42429571.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/9/2026

    Di Lorenzo B, Camargo Tavares L, Díaz-Muñoz C, Heredia-Fernández F, Bozzarelli I, Esteban Blanco C, Wang Z, Smit RAJ, Loos RJF, Hirbo J, Cox NJ, Straub P, Favé MJ, Awadalla P, Pozdeyev N, Gignoux CR, Gudbjartsson DF, Thorleifsson G, Jonsdottir I, Stefansson K, Abner E, Palta P, Williams AT, Coley K, Sze G, John C, Richmond A, McCartney D, Hayward C, Mulford AJ, Sanders AR, Peculis R, Rovite V, Dombrovska MS, Capasso M, Lo Faro V, Sinha T, Lopera Maya EA, Zhernakova A, Wang Y, Martin A, Vanderwerff B, Zöllner S, Ferolito BR, Pereira AC, Gaziano JM, Cho K, Caruth L, Guare L, Kripke CM, Rader DJ, Verma SS, Verma A, Saad C, Mbarek H, Chao PY, Chen TT, Lin YF, Feng YA, Challa PK, Khalili H, Andries A, Ness-Jensen E, Brumpton BM, Grover M, Lemmelä S, Sanna S, Bonfiglio F, D'Amato M. Cross-definition GWAS of IBS in 2.8 million individuals reveals cardiometabolic and triglyceride-linked mechanisms. Gut. 2026 Jul 09. PMID: 42425734.

    Read at: PubMed

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Websites

Education

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

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