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 7/16/2026

    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 DT, Saferali A, Smith JD, Taylor KD, Tracy RP, Wang J, Wang M, Weinstock JS, Weiss J, Wheeler HE, Zhou Y, Zöllner S, Wu JC, Mestroni L, Graw S, Taylor MRG, Ortega VE, Johnson WC, Gan W, Abecasis G, Nickerson DA, Gupta N, Ardlie K, Woodruff PG, Bowler RP, Meyers DA, Reiner A, Kooperberg C, Ziv E, Vasan RS, Larson MG, Cupples LA, Silverman EK, Rich SS, Heard-Costa N, Tang H, Rotter JI, Smith AV, Levy D, Aguet F, Scott LJ, Raffield LM, Parker SCJ, Abe N, Almasy L, Ament S, Anugu P, Auer P, Avramopoulos D, Balasubramanian A, Barr RG, Barwick L, Beaty T, Becker D, Becker L, Beitelshees A, Benos T, Bezerra M, Bis J, Brody J, Broeckel U, Broome J, Bunting K, Buth E, Carey V, Carty C, Casaburi R, Chaffin M, Chang C, Chang YC, Chavan S, Chen BJ, Chen WM, Choi SH, Chuang LM, Chung RH, Conomos M, Cornell E, Crandall C, Crapo J, Curtis J, Damcott C, David S, de Las Fuentes L, de Vries P, Deka R, DeMeo D, Devine S, Dinh H, Doddapaneni H, Duan Q, Duggirala R, Eaton C, Ekunwe L, El Boueiz A, Emery L, Farber C, Farek J, Franceschini N, Frazar C, Fu M, Fullerton SM, Fulton L, Gao S, Gao Y, Gass M, Geiger H, Ghosh A, Gignoux C, Glahn D, Gogarten S, Gong DW, Goring H, Grine D, Gu CC, Guan Y, Hall M, Han Y, Harris D, Heavner B, Herrington D, Hobbs B, Hong E, Hoth K, Hsiung CA, Hu J, Hung YJ, Huston H, Hwu CM, Jackson R, Jain D, Johnsen J, Johnston R, Jones K, Kessler M, Khan A, Khan Z, Kim W, Kimoff J, Kinney G, Kramer H, Lange C, Lange E, Laurie C, Laurie C, LeBoff M, Lee S, Lee WJ, Levine D, Lewis J, Li Y, Lin X, Liu S, Liu Y, Make B, Manning A, Manson J, Martin L, Marton M, Mathai S, May S, McArdle P, McDonald ML, McFarland S, McGoldrick D, McHugh C, Mei H, Meigs J, Menon V, Min N, Moll M, Momin Z, Montasser M, Mychaleckyj JC, Naik R, Naseri T, Natarajan P, Nelson SC, Neltner B, Nessner C, Nkechinyere O, O'Connell J, O'Connor T, Ochs-Balcom H, Okwuonu G, Pankow J, Parker C, Peloso G, Peralta JM, Perez M, Perry J, Peters U, Phillips LS, Pollin T, Becker JP, Boorgula MP, Psaty B, Qiao D, Rafaels N, Rajendran M, Rasmussen-Torvik L, Ratan A, Reed R, Regan E, Reupena MS, Robillard R, Roselli C, Ruczinski I, Runnels A, Russell P, Ryan K, Sabino EC, Salimi S, Salvi S, Salzberg S, Sandow K, Santibanez J, Schwander K, Sciurba F, Sériès F, Shetty A, Shetty A, Silver B, Skomro R, Smith T, Smoller S, Snively B, Stilp AM, Storm G, Streeten E, Su JL, Sung YJ, Sylvia J, Szpiro A, Taub M, Taylor S, Thornton TA, Threlkeld M, Tinker L, Tirschwell D, Tiwari H, Tong C, Tsai M, Vaidya D, Walker T, Wallace R, Walts A, Wang FF, Wang H, Watson K, Watt J, Weng LC, Wessel J, Williams K, Wilson C, Wilson J, Winterkorn L, Wong Q, Wu B, Xu H, Yanek L, Yang I, Zekavat SM, Zhao SX, Zhao W, Zhu X. Cross-cohort analysis of expression and splicing quantitative trait loci in TOPMed. Science. 2026 Jul 16; 393(6808):eadx2989. PMID: 42462027.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/21/2026

    Barnao KM, Hubbard AK, Chan ICC, Zhou W, Jakubek YA, Genovese G, Wong WSW, Kelly RL, Young CD, Brown DW, Huang WY, Freedman ND, Jones K, Hutchinson A, Hicks B, Tran D, Arnett D, Barnes KC, Bis JC, Boerwinkle E, Brody JA, Carson AP, Chasman DI, Cho MH, Desai P, Doyle MF, Fornage M, Guo X, Heard-Costa N, Irvin MR, Johnson AD, Kardia SLR, Kooperberg C, Levy D, Lewis JP, Li Y, Loos RJF, Mack TM, Mathias RA, Mitchell BD, North KE, Pankratz N, Peyser PA, Preuss MH, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Redline S, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Silverman EK, Smith AV, Smith JA, Stilp A, Cao Y, Scheet P, Reiner AP, Bick AG, Chanock SJ, Auer PL, Bolton KL, Machiela MJ. Co-occurring clonal hematopoiesis exhibits strong selection and high leukemia risk. Nat Commun. 2026 May 21; 17(1). PMID: 42168198.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/26/2026

    Zhang Y, Nguyen NQH, Hanson PA, Sevilla-Gonzalez M, Haessler J, Sarnowski C, Yao J, Yu B, Jamshidi A, Boerwinkle E, Brown MR, Chen ZZ, Ida Chen YD, Clish C, DiCorpo D, Durda P, Gerszten R, Goodarzi MO, Guo X, Heard-Costa NL, Johnson WC, Kooperberg C, Pankow JS, Post WS, Reiner AP, Rich SS, Rotter JI, de Vries PS, Wood AC, Taylor KD, Manning AK, Dupuis J, Meigs JB, Liu CT. Plasma metabolomic profiles associated with cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. Atherosclerosis. 2026 Jun; 417:120758. PMID: 42085744.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/23/2026

    Peloso GM, Wang D, Abbruzzese SM, Bis JC, Choi SH, Beiser A, Bressler J, Dupuis J, Fohner AE, Ghanbari M, Gibbs RA, Heard-Costa N, Ikram MA, Lacaze P, Le Grand Q, Lopez OL, Mosley TH, Riaz M, Soumaré A, Yaqub A, Boerwinkle E, Psaty BM, Fornage M, Seshadri S, DeStefano AL. Whole genome sequencing analysis of over 3500 individuals dementia-free over 85 years old. J Alzheimers Dis. 2026 Jun; 111(4):1772-1782. PMID: 42024100.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/26/2026

    Yang X, Kim MS, Zhu X, Uddin MM, Nakao T, Cho SMJ, Koyama S, Xu T, Reeskamp LF, Zhang R, Liu Z, A Y, de Vries PS, Vasan RS, Boerwinkle E, Morrison AC, Psaty BM, Tracy RP, Heckbert SR, Cho MH, Yun JH, Palmer ND, Bowden DW, Murabito JM, Levy D, Heard-Costa NL, O'Connor GT, Becker LC, Kral BG, Yanek LR, Raffield LM, Hidalgo B, Rotter JI, Rich SS, Taylor KD, Post WS, Kooperberg C, Reiner AP, Mitchell BD, Kardia SLR, Smith JA, Peyser PA, Bielak LF, Yon DK, Won HH, Arnett DK, Smith AV, Gabriel SB, Ellinor PT, Natarajan P, Wang M, Fahed AC. An integrated germline and somatic genomic model for coronary artery disease. Nat Commun. 2026 Mar 26; 17(1). PMID: 41888514.

    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