Robert C. Ellison, MD, MS

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

R. Curtis Ellison, M.D., has been Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine since 1989, and is the former Chief of the Evans Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology. He holds degrees from Davidson College, the Medical University of South Carolina, and Harvard School of Public Health. With training in internal medicine, cardiology, and epidemiology, Dr. Ellison serves as a senior investigator in The Framingham Study, and is the principal investigator of a number of research studies on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in determining familial risk of hypertension and heart disease.

In July, 1994, Dr. Ellison established and became the Director of the Institute on Lifestyle and Health at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. The Institute focuses research on various aspects of lifestyle, especially diet, exercise, and the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages, habits that relate to the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.

Dr. Ellison is best known to the lay public for his research on what is known as the "French Paradox". This refers to the fact that the French have a high-fat diet and other risk factors, yet have very low rates of coronary heart disease. Dr. Ellison and Dr. Serge Renaud of Lyon, France, were the key scientists who were a part of the program on the "French Paradox" that appeared on the American television program, 60 Minutes, in November, 1991. In the early 1990's Dr. Ellison worked with the Oldways Foundation, Harvard School of Public Health, and the European office of the World Health Organization in the development of the "Mediterranean Diet Pyramid", a set of dietary guidelines for Americans.

Publications

  • Published 2/25/2022

    Neisius U, Zhou G, Ward RE, Ellison RC, Gaziano JM, Djoussé L. Dairy product consumption and calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries: The NHLBI Family Heart Study. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2022 Jun; 49:517-521. PMID: 35623860.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/13/2021

    Yiannakou I, Singer MR, Jacques PF, Xanthakis V, Ellison RC, Moore LL. Adherence to a Mediterranean-Style Dietary Pattern and Cancer Risk in a Prospective Cohort Study. Nutrients. 2021 Nov 13; 13(11). PMID: 34836319.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/1/2018

    Mustafa J, Ellison RC, Singer MR, Bradlee ML, Kalesan B, Holick MF, Moore LL. Dietary Protein and Preservation of Physical Functioning Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the Framingham Offspring Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2018 07 01; 187(7):1411-1419. PMID: 29590270.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/1/2017

    Patel YR, Gadiraju TV, Ellison RC, Hunt SC, Carr JJ, Heiss G, Arnett DK, Pankow JS, Gaziano JM, Djoussé L. Coffee consumption and calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries: The NHLBI Family Heart Study. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2017 Feb; 17:18-21. PMID: 28361742.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/1/2016

    Barrett-Connor E, de Gaetano G, Djoussé L, Ellison RC, Estruch R, Finkel H, Goldfinger T, Keil U, Lanzmann-Petithory D, Mattivi F, Skovenborg E, Stockley C, Svilaas A, Teissedre PL, Thelle DS, Ursini F, Waterhouse AL. Comments on Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Mortality. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2016 09; 77(5):834-6. PMID: 27588543.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 198 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Professor, Epidemiology
    Boston University School of Public Health
  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study

Websites

Education

  • Medical University of South Carolina, MD
  • Harvard University, MS
  • Davidson College, BS

View all profiles