Nancy L. Heard-Costa, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurology

617.358.0095
nheard@bu.edu
72 E. Concord St Robinson (B)
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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.

Other Positions

  • Center Faculty Member, Framingham Heart Study, Framingham Heart Study

Websites

Education

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

Publications

  • Published on 2/7/2025

    Li X, Chen H, Selvaraj MS, Van Buren E, Zhou H, Wang Y, Sun R, McCaw ZR, Yu Z, Jiang MZ, DiCorpo D, Gaynor SM, Dey R, Arnett DK, Benjamin EJ, Bis JC, Blangero J, Boerwinkle E, Bowden DW, Brody JA, Cade BE, Carson AP, Carlson JC, Chami N, Chen YI, Curran JE, de Vries PS, Fornage M, Franceschini N, Freedman BI, Gu C, Heard-Costa NL, He J, Hou L, Hung YJ, Irvin MR, Kaplan RC, Kardia SLR, Kelly TN, Konigsberg I, Kooperberg C, Kral BG, Li C, Li Y, Lin H, Liu CT, Loos RJF, Mahaney MC, Martin LW, Mathias RA, Mitchell BD, Montasser ME, Morrison AC, Naseri T, North KE, Palmer ND, Peyser PA, Psaty BM, Redline S, Reiner AP, Rich SS, Sitlani CM, Smith JA, Taylor KD, Tiwari HK, Vasan RS, Viali S, Wang Z, Wessel J, Yanek LR, Yu B, Dupuis J, Meigs JB, Auer PL, Raffield LM, Manning AK, Rice KM, Rotter JI, Peloso GM, Natarajan P, Li Z, Liu Z, Lin X. A statistical framework for multi-trait rare variant analysis in large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies. Nat Comput Sci. 2025 Feb; 5(2):125-143. PMID: 39920506.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 1/13/2025

    Jakubek YA, Ma X, Stilp AM, Yu F, Bacon J, Wong JW, Aguet F, Ardlie K, Arnett DK, Barnes K, Bis JC, Blackwell T, Becker LC, Boerwinkle E, Bowler RP, Budoff MJ, Carson AP, Chen J, Cho MH, Coresh J, Cox NJ, de Vries PS, DeMeo DL, Fardo DW, Fornage M, Guo X, Hall ME, Heard-Costa N, Hidalgo B, Irvin MR, Johnson AD, Jorgenson E, Kenny EE, Kessler MD, Levy D, Li Y, Lima JAC, Liu Y, Locke AE, Loos RJF, Machiela MJ, Mathias RA, Mitchell BD, Murabito JM, Mychaleckyj JC, North KE, Orchard P, Parker SCJ, Pershad Y, Peyser PA, Pratte KA, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Redline S, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Shah SJ, Smith JA, Smith AP, Smith A, Taub MA, Tiwari HK, Tracy R, Tuftin B, Bick AG, Sankaran VG, Reiner AP, Scheet P, Auer PL. Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood. Am J Hum Genet. 2025 Feb 06; 112(2):276-290. PMID: 39809269.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 1/9/2025

    Magavern EF, Deshmukh H, Asselin G, Theusch E, Trompet S, Li X, Noordam R, Chen YI, Seeman TE, Taylor KD, Post WS, Tardif JC, Paul DS, Benjamin EJ, Heard-Costa NL, Vasan RS, Rotter JI, Krauss RM, Jukema JW, Ridker PM, Munroe PB, Caulfield MJ, Chasman DI, Dubé MP, Hitman GA, Warren HR. GWAS of CRP response to statins further supports the role of APOE in statin response: A GIST consortium study. Pharmacol Res. 2025 Feb; 212:107575. PMID: 39798939.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 12/6/2024

    Liu C, Joehanes R, Ma J, Xie J, Yang J, Wang M, Huan T, Hwang SJ, Wen J, Sun Q, Cumhur DY, Heard-Costa NL, Orchard P, Carson AP, Raffield LM, Reiner A, Li Y, O'Connor G, Murabito JM, Munson P, Levy D. Integrating Whole Genome and Transcriptome Sequencing to Characterize the Genetic Architecture of Isoform Variation and its Implications for Health and Disease. medRxiv. 2024 Dec 06. PMID: 39677465.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 11/20/2024

    Carbonneau M, Li Y, Qu Y, Zheng Y, Wood AC, Wang M, Liu C, Huan T, Joehanes R, Guo X, Yao J, Taylor KD, Tracy RP, Peter D, Liu Y, Johnson WC, Post WS, Blackwell T, Rotter JI, Rich SS, Redline S, Fornage M, Wang J, Ning H, Hou L, Lloyd-Jones D, Ferrier K, Min YI, Carson AP, Raffield LM, Teumer A, Grabe HJ, Völzke H, Nauck M, Dörr M, Domingo-Relloso A, Fretts A, Tellez-Plaza M, Cole S, Navas-Acien A, Wang M, Murabito JM, Heard-Costa NL, Prescott B, Xanthakis V, Mozaffarian D, Levy D, Ma J. DNA Methylation Signatures of Cardiovascular Health Provide Insights into Diseases. medRxiv. 2024 Nov 20. PMID: 39606375.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/28/2024

    Nagarajan P, Kurniansyah N, Lee J, Gharib SA, Xu Y, Zhang Y, Spitzer B, Faquih T, Zhou H, Boerwinkle E, Chen H, Gottlieb DJ, Guo X, Heard-Costa NL, Hidalgo BA, Levy D, Liu PY, Mei H, Montalvan R, Mukherjee S, North KE, O'Conner GT, Palmer LJ, Patel SR, Psaty BM, Purcell SM, Raffield LM, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Saxena R, Smith AV, Stone KL, Zhu X, Cade BE, Sofer T, Redline S, Wang H. Gene-Excessive Sleepiness Interactions Suggest Treatment Targets for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Subtype. medRxiv. 2024 Oct 28. PMID: 39574859.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/20/2024

    Lee WP, Choi SH, Shea MG, Cheng PL, Dombroski BA, Pitsillides AN, Heard-Costa NL, Wang H, Bulekova K, Kuzma AB, Leung YY, Farrell JJ, Lin H, Kunkle BW, Naj A, Blue EE, Nusetor F, Wang D, Boerwinkle E, Bush WS, Zhang X, De Jager PL, Dupuis J, Farrer LA, Fornage M, Martin E, Pericak-Vance M, Seshadri S, Wijsman EM, Wang LS, Schellenberg GD, Destefano AL, Haines JL, Peloso GM. Association of common and rare variants with Alzheimer's disease in more than 13,000 diverse individuals with whole-genome sequencing from the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Dec; 20(12):8470-8483. PMID: 39428839.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/9/2024

    Rocheleau G, Clarke SL, Auguste G, Hasbani NR, Morrison AC, Heath AS, Bielak LF, Iyer KR, Young EP, Stitziel NO, Jun G, Laurie C, Broome JG, Khan AT, Arnett DK, Becker LC, Bis JC, Boerwinkle E, Bowden DW, Carson AP, Ellinor PT, Fornage M, Franceschini N, Freedman BI, Heard-Costa NL, Hou L, Chen YI, Kenny EE, Kooperberg C, Kral BG, Loos RJF, Lutz SM, Manson JE, Martin LW, Mitchell BD, Nassir R, Palmer ND, Post WS, Preuss MH, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Regan EA, Rich SS, Smith JA, Taylor KD, Yanek LR, Young KA, Hilliard AT, Tcheandjieu C, Peyser PA, Vasan RS, Rotter JI, Miller CL, Assimes TL, de Vries PS, Do R. Rare variant contribution to the heritability of coronary artery disease. Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 09; 15(1):8741. PMID: 39384761.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 7/16/2024

    Levy D, Kirmani S, Huan T, Van Amburg J, Joehanes R, Uddin MM, Nguyen NQ, Yu B, Brody J, Fornage M, Bressler J, Sotoodehnia N, Ong D, Puddu F, Floyd J, Ballantyne C, Psaty B, Raffield L, Natarajan P, Conneely K, Carson A, Lange L, Ferrier K, Heard-Costa N, Murabito J, Bick A. Epigenome-wide DNA Methylation Association Study of CHIP Provides Insight into Perturbed Gene Regulation. Res Sq. 2024 Jul 16. PMID: 39070619.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 6/12/2024

    Xu H, Gupta S, Dinsmore I, Kollu A, Cawley AM, Anwar MY, Chen HH, Petty LE, Seshadri S, Graff M, Below P, Brody JA, Chittoor G, Fisher-Hoch SP, Heard-Costa NL, Levy D, Lin H, Loos RJ, Mccormick JB, Rotter JI, Mirshahi T, Still CD, Destefano A, Cupples LA, Mohlke KL, North KE, Justice AE, Liu CT. Integrating Genetic and Transcriptomic Data to Identify Genes Underlying Obesity Risk Loci. medRxiv. 2024 Jun 12. PMID: 38903089.

    Read at: PubMed

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