Jennifer Renee Fonda, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry

Biography
I am the lead epidemiologist and biostatistician for the Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders Center (TRACTS), a VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Traumatic Brain Injury National Network. I play a central role in the design and data management of TRACTS, a longitudinal, prospective cohort study that uses state-of-the-art information across the domains of biological function (including blood chemistry, genetics, epigenetics), clinical and psychosocial function, lifetime head trauma and blast exposure, deployment experience, neuropsychological function, and neural integrity. I have 17 years of experience as a researcher focused on biostatistics and epidemiologic methods, with a particular interest in addiction, suicide, and psychiatric epidemiology.
Other Positions
- VA Boston Healthcare System
Education
- Boston University, PhD
- Boston University, MA
- Boston University, BA
Publications
- Published on 3/23/2023
Lendvai D, Whittemore R, Womack JA, Fortier CB, Milberg WP, Fonda JR. The Impact of Blast Exposure-With or Without Traumatic Brain Injury-on Metabolic Abnormalities in Post-9/11 Veterans. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2023 Mar 23. PMID: 36951458.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/23/2023
Lendvai D, Whittemore R, Womack JA, Fortier CB, Milberg WP, Fonda JR. The Impact of Blast Exposure-With or Without Traumatic Brain Injury-on Metabolic Abnormalities in Post-9/11 Veterans. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2023 Mar 23. PMID: 36951458.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/22/2022
Sherva R, Zhang R, Sahelijo N, Jun G, Anglin T, Chanfreau C, Cho K, Fonda JR, Gaziano JM, Harrington KM, Ho YL, Kremen WS, Litkowski E, Lynch J, Neale Z, Roussos P, Marra D, Mez J, Miller MW, Salat DH, Tsuang D, Wolf E, Zeng Q, Panizzon MS, Merritt VC, Farrer LA, Hauger RL, Logue MW. African ancestry GWAS of dementia in a large military cohort identifies significant risk loci. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Mar; 28(3):1293-1302. PMID: 36543923.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/22/2022
Logue MW, Miller MW, Sherva R, Zhang R, Harrington KM, Fonda JR, Merritt VC, Panizzon MS, Hauger RL, Wolf EJ, Neale Z, Gaziano JM. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias among aging veterans: Examining gene-by-environment interactions with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Alzheimers Dement. 2022 Dec 22. PMID: 36546606.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/21/2022
Kim S, Currao A, Bernstein J, Fonda JR, Fortier CB. Contributory Etiologies to Cognitive Performance in Multimorbid Post-9/11 Veterans: The Deployment Trauma Phenotype. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2022 Nov 21; 37(8):1699-1709. PMID: 35718759.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/6/2022
Evans TC, Alonso MR, Jagger-Rickels A, Rothlein D, Zuberer A, Bernstein J, Fortier CB, Fonda JR, Villalon A, Jorge R, Milberg W, McGlinchey R, DeGutis J, Esterman M. PTSD symptomatology is selectively associated with impaired sustained attention ability and dorsal attention network synchronization. Neuroimage Clin. 2022; 36:103146. PMID: 36055063.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/5/2022
Fonda JR, Crowe ML, Levin LK, Jagger-Rickels A, Marx BP, Milberg WP, McGlinchey RE, Fortier CB. Network analysis of mild traumatic brain injury, persistent neurobehavioral and psychiatric symptoms, and functional disability among recent-era United States veterans. J Trauma Stress. 2022 Oct; 35(5):1546-1558. PMID: 35932100.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 6/7/2022
Kim S, Currao A, Fonda JR, Beck B, Kenna A, Fortier CB. Diagnostic Accuracy of the Boston Assessment of Traumatic Brain Injury-Lifetime Clinical Interview Compared to Department of Defense Medical Records. Mil Med. 2022 Jun 07. PMID: 35670452.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/1/2022
Bernstein JPK, Fonda J, Currao A, Kim S, Milberg WP, McGlinchey RE, Fortier CB. Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression are uniquely associated with disability and life dissatisfaction in post-9/11 veterans. Psychiatry Res. 2022 07; 313:114589. PMID: 35533471.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/26/2022
Pierce ME, Hayes J, Huber BR, Jeromin A, Fortier CB, Fonda JR, Lasseter H, Chaby L, McGlinchey R, Milberg W. Plasma biomarkers associated with deployment trauma and its consequences in post-9/11 era veterans: initial findings from the TRACTS longitudinal cohort. Transl Psychiatry. 2022 02 26; 12(1):80. PMID: 35217643.
Read at: PubMed
View 54 more publications: View full profile at BUMC