Nancy L. Heard-Costa, PhD

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Expertise includes: Data management - both phenotype and genetic in nature, including storage , maintenance, quality control; Genetic data cleaning - both in unrelated and related individuals; Pedigree creation, verification and maintenance; Forensic analysis of genetic samples - identification of incorrect, cryptic duplicate, and related subject; Statistical analysis -from univariate to multivariate and more complex models, including design, implementation and interpretation/conclusion; Genetic statistical analysis - linkage, association and meta-analysis, including design, implementation and interpretation/conclusion; and Human Medical Genetics theory and practice.

Publications

  • 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 3/21/2025

    Georgakis MK, Malik R, Bounkari OE, Hasbani NR, Li J, Huffman JE, Shakt G, Tack RWP, Kimball TN, Asare Y, Morrison AC, Tsao NL, Judy R, Mitchell BD, Xu H, Montasser ME, Do R, Kenny EE, Loos RJF, Terry JG, Carr JJ, Bis JC, Psaty BM, Longstreth WT, Young KA, Lutz SM, Cho MH, Broome J, Khan AT, Wang FF, Heard-Costa N, Seshadri S, Vasan RS, Palmer ND, Freedman BI, Bowden DW, Yanek LR, Kral BG, Becker LC, Peyser PA, Bielak LF, Ammous F, Carson AP, Hall ME, Raffield LM, Rich SS, Post WS, Tracy RP, Taylor KD, Guo X, Mahaney MC, Curran JE, Blangero J, Clarke SL, Haessler JW, Hu Y, Assimes TL, Kooperberg C, Bernhagen J, Anderson CD, Damrauer SM, Zand R, Rotter JI, de Vries PS, Dichgans M. Rare damaging CCR2 variants are associated with lower lifetime cardiovascular risk. Genome Med. 2025 Mar 21; 17(1):27. PMID: 40119478.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/14/2025

    Wang D, Scalici A, Wang Y, Lin H, Pitsillides A, Heard-Costa N, Cruchaga C, Ziegemeier E, Bis JC, Fornage M, Boerwinkle E, De Jager PL, Wijsman E, Dupuis J, Renton AE, Seshadri S, Goate AM, DeStefano AL, Peloso GM. Frequency of variants in Mendelian Alzheimer's disease genes within the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project. J Alzheimers Dis. 2025 Apr; 104(3):841-851. PMID: 40084664.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/21/2025

    Orchard P, Blackwell TW, Kachuri L, Castaldi PJ, Cho MH, Christenson SA, Durda P, Gabriel S, Hersh CP, Huntsman S, Hwang S, Joehanes R, Johnson M, Li X, Lin H, Liu CT, Liu Y, Mak ACY, Manichaikul AW, Paik D, Saferali A, Smith JD, Taylor KD, Tracy RP, Wang J, Wang M, Weinstock JS, Weiss J, Wheeler HE, Zhou Y, Zoellner S, Wu JC, Mestroni L, Graw S, Taylor MRG, Ortega VE, Johnson CW, Gan W, Abecasis G, Nickerson DA, Gupta N, Ardlie K, Woodruff PG, Zheng Y, Bowler RP, Meyers DA, Reiner A, Kooperberg C, Ziv E, Ramachandran VS, Larson MG, Cupples LA, Burchard EG, Silverman EK, Rich SS, Heard-Costa N, Tang H, Rotter JI, Smith AV, Levy D, Aguet F, Scott L, Raffield LM, Parker SCJ. Cross-cohort analysis of expression and splicing quantitative trait loci in TOPMed. medRxiv. 2025 Feb 21. PMID: 40034763.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Center Faculty Member, Framingham Heart Study
    Framingham Heart Study

Education

  • University of Alabama at Birmingham, PhD
  • Boston University School of Public Health, MPH
  • Ripon College, BA