J. Michael Gaziano MD
Adjunct Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine
72 E. Concord Street michael.gaziano@va.gov
Sections
Cardiovascular Medicine
Biography
Dr. Michael J. Gaziano, MD, MPH is an internationally recognized chronic disease epidemiologist and trialist. He received his MD from Yale Medical School and his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.
At the VA Boston Healthcare System, he is one of the Director the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), a national epidemiology and trial center funded by CSR&D where he directs the epidemiology research center. He is national PI for the Million Veteran Program (MVP), a large project designed to enroll a million veterans into a large observational cohort with stored biospecimens. He also serves as the director of the Boston Geriatric Research and Education Center (GRECC). At VA Boston he runs a preventive cardiology program with an associated fellowship. He is the Chief of the Division of Aging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he is principal investigator for the ongoing Physicians' Health Study (PHS) II study, a large-scale trial of vitamins in the prevention of chronic disease. The Physicians’ Health Study cohort is comprised of 29,000 physicians who have been followed for up to 28 years. He is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Gaziano’s research interests include the epidemiology of chronic diseases, with a particular interest in the roles that individual lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, smoking), metabolic factors (obesity, high cholesterol, and hypertension), and biochemical and genetic markers play on the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke. Also of interest is the impact that vascular disease has on other organ systems. Recently, Dr. Gaziano has initiated a number of research projects to investigate the diverse nature of atherosclerosis. While atherosclerosis plaques form only in certain large and medium-sized vessels, the process of atherogenesis affects arteries of all sizes. For example, renal dysfunction, cognitive decline and osteoporosis-related fractures have been linked to various cardiovascular disease risk factors, suggesting a role for small vessel disease in vascular dementia, in abnormal bone remodeling and chronic renal disease. These projects are intended to explore the extent to which atherosclerotic disease in small vessels leads to these and other chronic conditions.
He has published over 350 original reports, reviews, book chapters, and books. He teaches advanced epidemiology and has mentored over 50 trainees. He is a contributing editor for JAMA.
Websites
Education
MD, Yale University School of Medicine
MPH, Harvard School of Public Health
BA, West Virginia University
Publications
Bright U, Beck S, Levey DF, Deak JD, Gaziano JM, Stein MB, Gelernter J. The genetics of fibromyalgia and its relationships to psychiatric and medical traits. Nat Commun. 2026 Jul 28; 17(1). PMID: 42521668.
Published on 7/16/2026Ferolito BR, Horimoto ARVR, Gravel-Pucillo K, Golden DJ, Dashti H, Giambartolomei C, Rasooly D, Matty R, Gaziano L, Tsepilov Y, Costa L, Kosik N, Ioannidis H, Karim M, Winicki G, Hunter F, Langenberg C, Whittaker JC, Cai T, Peloso GM, Zdrazil B, Ghoussaini M, Leach AR, Muralidhar S, Smit IA, Casas JP, Gaziano JM, Cho K, Pereira AC. A genomic-led strategy to anticipate drug safety effects. PLoS Genet. 2026 Jul; 22(7):e1012211. PMID: 42461796.
Published on 7/10/2026Watling CZ, Watts EL, Loftfield E, Graubard BI, Hong HG, Zhang X, Barnett MJ, Buring JE, Barnard ME, Chen Y, Eliassen AH, Gaziano JM, Hofmann JN, Huang WY, Kang JH, Koshiol J, Lee IM, Moore SC, Mucci LA, Neuhouser ML, Newton CC, Purdue MP, Sesso HD, Shrubsole M, Sinha R, Tinker L, Triplette M, Um CY, Visvanathan K, Wactawski-Wende J, Willett WC, Wu F, Zheng W, Campbell PT, Barupal D, Petrick JL, Mcglynn KA. Circulating pre-diagnostic metabolites and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a population-based study of 12 cohorts. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Jul 10. PMID: 42429571.
Published on 7/9/2026Di Lorenzo B, Camargo Tavares L, Díaz-Muñoz C, Heredia-Fernández F, Bozzarelli I, Esteban Blanco C, Wang Z, Smit RAJ, Loos RJF, Hirbo J, Cox NJ, Straub P, Favé MJ, Awadalla P, Pozdeyev N, Gignoux CR, Gudbjartsson DF, Thorleifsson G, Jonsdottir I, Stefansson K, Abner E, Palta P, Williams AT, Coley K, Sze G, John C, Richmond A, McCartney D, Hayward C, Mulford AJ, Sanders AR, Peculis R, Rovite V, Dombrovska MS, Capasso M, Lo Faro V, Sinha T, Lopera Maya EA, Zhernakova A, Wang Y, Martin A, Vanderwerff B, Zöllner S, Ferolito BR, Pereira AC, Gaziano JM, Cho K, Caruth L, Guare L, Kripke CM, Rader DJ, Verma SS, Verma A, Saad C, Mbarek H, Chao PY, Chen TT, Lin YF, Feng YA, Challa PK, Khalili H, Andries A, Ness-Jensen E, Brumpton BM, Grover M, Lemmelä S, Sanna S, Bonfiglio F, D'Amato M. Cross-definition GWAS of IBS in 2.8 million individuals reveals cardiometabolic and triglyceride-linked mechanisms. Gut. 2026 Jul 09. PMID: 42425734.
Published on 7/1/2026Perez D, Breglio KF, Knox KM, Pereira AC, Gaziano JM, Wheless LE, Hartman RI. Cost-Effectiveness of Oral Nicotinamide for Keratinocyte Carcinoma Prevention. JAMA Dermatol. 2026 Jul 01; 162(7):731-735. PMID: 42268603.
Published on 6/18/2026Djousse L, Ward RE, Marucci-Wellman H, Yel N, Colson K, Santos AA, Coleman-Lopez M, Pan E, Leesch T, Peña D, Congdon M, Bolles M, Gagnon D, Gaziano JM. A Novel Approach to Manage Hypercholesterolemia: Veterans Affairs Lipid Optimization Reimagined Quality Improvement Program. JACC Adv. 2026 Jul; 5(7):102935. PMID: 42314578.
Published on 6/15/2026White DL, NonoDjotsa ABS, Ahmed ST, Boyle SH, Gaziano JM, Thompson AD, Johnson MG, Gifford EJ, Polimanti R, Aslan M, Hauser ER, Helmer DA. Association between deployment and Gulf War Illness and adverse COVID outcomes in a nationwide cohort of 1990-1991 Gulf Era war veterans in the VA's Million Veteran Program. PLoS One. 2026; 21(6):e0348594. PMID: 42296096.
Published on 6/10/2026Qazi S, Charest B, Pajewski NM, Callahan KE, Houston DK, Espinoza SE, Forman DE, Alexander KP, Djousse L, Gaziano JM, Gagnon DR, Driver JA, Orkaby AR. Statins and survival free of incident frailty among older US veterans. Eur Heart J. 2026 Jun 10. PMID: 42264468.
Published on 6/8/2026Mamak F, Yu Z, Triozzi JL, Corty R, Wheless L, Wang G, Giri A, Chen HC, Wilson O, Bick AG, Gaziano JM, Tao R, Hung AM. Albuminuria Changes as a surrogate endpoint in Apolipoprotein L1 Mediated Kidney Disease in Vanderbilt BioVU and the Million Veteran Program. medRxiv. 2026 Jun 08. PMID: 42326799.
Published on 5/11/2026Pathak GA, Koller D, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Nono Djotsa ABS, Wendt FR, De Lillo A, Friligkou E, He J, Kouakou MR, Duong LM, Vahey J, Steele L, Quaden R, Harrington KM, Ahmed ST, Gaziano JM, Concato J, Zhao H, Radhakrishnan K, Gelernter J, Gifford E, Aslan M, Helmer DA, Hauser ER, Polimanti R. Unraveling the genetics of gulf war illness in diverse participants enrolled in the million veteran program. Hum Mol Genet. 2026 May 11; 35(8). PMID: 40366759.