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 5/7/2025

    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. medRxiv. 2025 May 07. PMID: 40385396.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/11/2025

    Petrie BK, Lau H, Cajiga-Pena FM, Abbas S, Finn B, Dam K, Cervantes-Arslanian AM, Nguyen TN, Aparicio HJ, Greer D, Romero JR. Illicit drug use and cerebral microbleeds in patients with acute ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack. Int J Stroke. 2025 Mar 11; 17474930251328524. PMID: 40070091.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/10/2025

    Levine DA, Whitney RT, Ye W, Briceño EM, Gross AL, Giordani BJ, Sussman JB, Lazar RM, Howard VJ, Aparicio HJ, Beiser AS, Elkind MSV, Gottesman RF, Koton S, Pendlebury ST, Kollipara AS, Springer MV, Seshadri S, Romero JR, Fitzpatrick AL, Longstreth WT, Hayward RA. Associations Between Stroke Type, Ischemic Stroke Subtypes, and Poststroke Cognitive Trajectories. Stroke. 2025 Apr; 56(4):898-907. PMID: 40062407.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/27/2025

    Ekenze O, Seiler S, Pinheiro A, DeCarli C, Parva P, Habes M, Charidimou A, Maillard P, Beiser A, Seshadri S, Demissie S, Romero JR. Relation of MRI visible perivascular spaces with global and regional brain structural connectivity measures: The Framingham Heart Study (FHS). Neurobiol Aging. 2025 Jun; 150:1-8. PMID: 40043467.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/18/2024

    Stefanidou M, Himali JJ, Bernal R, Satizabal C, Devinsky O, Romero JR, Beiser AS, Seshadri S, Friedman D. Association of cognitive and structural correlates of brain aging and incident epilepsy. The Framingham Heart Study. Epilepsia. 2025 Jan; 66(1):160-169. PMID: 39555677.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 116 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study

Websites

Education

  • Escuela Colombiana de Medicina, MD

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