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
Ferolito 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 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 6/10/2026Perez 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 Jun 10. PMID: 42268603.
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.
Published on 5/7/2026Sherva R, Bayly H, Zhang R, Harrington K, Mez J, Miller MW, Tsuang D, Wolf E, Zeng Q, Le Guen Y, Tejeda M, Gaziano JM, Panizzon MS, Hauger RL, Merritt VC, Farrer LA, Logue MW. A Genome-wide Association Study of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia in a Large Multi-ancestry Military Cohort Identifies Many New Dementia-Associated Loci. medRxiv. 2026 May 07. PMID: 42145619.
Published on 4/23/2026Ren J, Liu C, Hui Q, Rahafrooz M, Kosik NM, Urak K, Moser J, Muralidhar S, Pereira AC, Cho K, Gaziano JM, Wilson PWF, Phillips LS, Sun YV, Joseph J. X-Chromosome-Wide Association Study Identifies Novel Genetic Signals for Heart Failure and Subtypes. medRxiv. 2026 Apr 23. PMID: 42078360.
Published on 4/22/2026Vergara C, Ni Z, Zhong J, McKean D, Connelly KE, Antwi SO, Arslan AA, Bracci PM, Du M, Gallinger S, Genkinger J, Haiman CA, Hassan M, Hung RJ, Huff C, Kooperberg C, Kastrinos F, LeMarchand L, Lee W, Lynch SM, Moore SC, Oberg AL, Park MA, Permuth JB, Risch HA, Scheet P, Schwartz A, Shu XO, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Wolpin BM, Zheng W, Albanes D, Andreotti G, Bamlet WR, Beane-Freeman L, Berndt SI, Brennan P, Buring JE, Cabrera-Castro N, Campa D, Canzian F, Chanock SJ, Chen Y, Chung CC, Eliassen AH, Gaziano JM, Giles GG, Giovannucci EL, Goggins M, Goodman PJ, Hicks B, Hutchinson A, Jones MR, Katzke V, Kogevinas M, Kurtz RC, Laheru D, Lee IM, Malats N, Milne R, Mucci L, Neale RE, Orlow I, Patel AV, Peruchet L, Peters U, Porta M, Rabe KG, Real FX, Ricceri F, Rothman N, Sesso HD, Setiawan VW, Silverman D, Southey MC, Stampfer MJ, Tobias GS, Um C, Visvanathan K, Wactawski-Wende J, Wentzensen N, Willett WC, Yu H, Kraft P, Duggal P, Amundadottir LT, Klein AP. Novel Genetic Risk Loci for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Identified in a Genome-wide Study of African Ancestry Individuals. medRxiv. 2026 Apr 22. PMID: 42078392.
Published on 4/13/2026Liu C, Hui Q, Linchangco GV, Dabbs-Brown A, Zhou JJ, Joseph J, Reaven PD, Rhee MK, Djousse L, Cho K, Gaziano JM, Wilson PW, Phillips LS, Sun YV. Independent Genetic Effects of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Locus on Body Mass Index and Type 2 Diabetes. medRxiv. 2026 Apr 13. PMID: 42064929.