Vanessa Xanthakis, PhD

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Vanessa Xanthakis is a biostatistician with training in applied mathematics and statistics, and has a strong commitment to clinical epidemiological research. Presently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and in the Biostatistics Department at Boston University School of Public Health. She is an investigator at the Framingham Heart Study and serves as the biostatistician on several investigations. She also serves as the Program Director for the Boston University T32 Program in Cardiovascular Epidemiology and the Promotion of Research In MEdical Residency (R38) program. She is the Director of Research Training for the Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology. For the last 12 years, Dr. Xanthakis has focused her research on:

A) the epidemiology of cardiac remodeling and subclinical disease, including identifying cardiovascular disease risk factors;

B) population-based vascular testing and echocardiography, including identifying biological, environmental, and genetic determinants (correlates) of cardiac structure and function;

C) epidemiology of novel biomarkers including but not limited to natriuretic peptides, adipokines, and vascular growth factors;

D) cardiovascular risk prediction using biomarkers and assessing their incremental prognostic utility (focus of her PhD thesis);

E) epidemiology of heart failure and its precursors; and

F) ideal cardiovascular health and its impact on cardiovascular disease and its precursors.

Publications

  • Published 4/16/2025

    Balte PP, Kim JS, Sun Y, Allen N, Angelini E, Arynchyn A, Barr RG, Blaha M, Bowler R, Carr J, Cole SA, Couper D, Demmer RT, Doyle M, Elkind M, San José Estépar R, Garcia-Bedoya O, Garudadri S, Hansel NN, Hermann EA, Hoffman EA, Humphries SM, Hunninghake GM, Kaplan R, Krishnan JA, Laine A, Lee JS, Lynch DA, Make B, Matsushita K, McKleroy W, Min YI, Naik SN, O'Connor G, O'Driscoll O, Oren E, Podolanczuk AJ, Post WS, Pottinger T, Regan E, Rusk A, Salvatore M, Schwartz DA, Smith B, Sotres-Alvarez D, Umans JG, Vasan RS, Washko G, Wenzel S, Woodruff P, Xanthakis V, Ortega VE, Oelsner EC. Associations of Pre-Pandemic Lung Function and Structure with COVID-19 Outcomes: The C4R Study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025 Apr 16. PMID: 40238945.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/20/2025

    Demmer RT, Wu C, Kim JS, Sun Y, Balte P, Cushman M, Boyle R, Tracy RP, Styer LM, Bell TD, Anderson MR, Allen NB, Schreiner PJ, Bowler R, Schwartz DA, Lee JS, Xanthakis V, Rock JM, Bievenue R, Pirzada A, Doyle M, Regan EA, Make BJ, Kanaya AM, Kandula NR, Wenzel SE, Coresh J, Isasi CR, Raffield LM, Elkind MSV, Howard VJ, Ortega VE, Woodruff P, Cole SA, Henderson JM, Mantis NJ, Oelsner EC. Demographic and Clinical Factors Associated With SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Nucleocapsid Antibody Response Among Previously Infected US Adults: The C4R Study. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2025 Mar; 12(3):ofaf123. PMID: 40124199.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/10/2025

    Oelsner EC, Krishnaswamy A, Rustamov R, Balte PP, Ali T, Allen NB, Andrews HF, Anugu P, Arynchyn A, Bateman LA, Cai J, Chang H, Chen L, Elkind MSV, Floyd JS, Gabriel KP, Gharib SA, Gutierrez JD, Stukovsky KH, Howard VJ, Isasi CR, Jager L, Jin L, Judd SE, Kanaya AM, Kandula NR, Kelly MR, Khan SS, Kucharska-Newton A, Lee JS, Levitan EB, Lewis CE, Make BJ, Malloy K, Manly JJ, Mauger D, Min YI, Murabito JM, Murphy CG, Norwood AF, O'Connor GT, Ortega VE, Patel AA, Pirzada A, Regan EA, Ring KB, Rosamond WD, Schwartz DA, Shikany JM, Sotres-Alvarez D, Tarlton C, Tse J, Meneses EMU, Vankineni M, Wenzel SE, Woodruff PG, Xanthakis V, Yang JH, Zakai NA, Zhang Y, Post WS. Classifying COVID-19 hospitalizations in epidemiology cohort studies: The C4R study. PLoS One. 2025; 20(2):e0316198. PMID: 39928595.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/27/2025

    Sun N, Prescott B, Ma J, Xanthakis V, Quatromoni PA, Long MT, Walker ME. The cross-sectional association between ultra-processed food intake and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2025 Apr; 66:215-220. PMID: 39880205.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/27/2025

    Møller AL, Larson MG, Xanthakis V, Vasan RS, Andersson C. Modifiable risk factors and risk of myocardial infarction in offspring with parental disease. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2025 Jan 27; 32(2):131-138. PMID: 38722824.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 153 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Associate Professor, Biostatistics
    Boston University School of Public Health
  • Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University

Websites

Education

  • Boston University School of Public Health, PhD
  • University of Athens, MS
  • University of Athens, BS

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