Jessica L. Fetterman PhD
Assistant Professor, Vascular Biology
75 E. Newton St | (617) 358-7544jefetter@bu.edu

Sections
Vascular Biology
Centers
Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute
Framingham Heart Study
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
Biography
Jessica L. Fetterman, PhD, FAHA is a basic and translational scientist studying the intersections of mitochondrial physiology, mitochondrial genetic epidemiology, and cardiovascular disease. Her work focuses on the contribution of mitochondrial genetic variation and abnormalities to cardiovascular disease in the presence of risk factors, including tobacco product use and diabetes.
Using bioinformatics methods, Dr. Fetterman discovered that several select mitochondrial genetic variants are associated with non-invasive measures of vascular function within the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). Additionally, she has applied similar methodology to select mitochondrial single variant data within Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) to determine the associations of select mitochondrial genetic variants with cardiometabolic measures in collaboration with members of the mitochondrial genetics working group. Recently, Dr. Fetterman was awarded the competitive Trans-Omics Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Analytical Support Award for early career investigators to perform comprehensive bioinformatic annotation of the mitochondrial genetic variants within the TOPMed cohorts.
Dr. Fetterman also conducts research on the impact of new and emerging tobacco products on the vasculature, particularly studies designed to inform tobacco product regulation. Some of her recent work demonstrated that tobacco product flavoring additives induce vascular endothelial dysfunction, an early indicator of cardiovascular injury. She serves as an Associate Director of Education and Training within American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center. Additionally, she is the Director for the Boston University Tobacco Regulatory Science Affinity Research Collaborative, which is designed to bring together multi-disciplinary teams of scientists within Boston University to increase our understanding of tobacco product use patterns and the impact of new and emerging tobacco products on human health and disease.
Education
Pathology, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Microbiology, BA, Ohio Wesleyan University
Publications
Cooper LL, Majid S, Wang N, Fetterman JL, Palmisano JN, Benjamin EJ, Vasan RS, Mitchell GF, Hamburg NM. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of smoking behaviour with central arterial haemodynamic measures: the Framingham Heart Study. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2025 Feb 05. PMID: 39907713.
Published on 1/14/2025Moreira-Bouchard JD, Roberts LM, Silva V, Nessen EJ, Smith KK, Streed CG, Fetterman JL. Enhancing Student Understanding of Cardiovascular Disease Burden in Marginalized Communities in the Physiology Classroom. Adv Physiol Educ. 2025 Jan 14. PMID: 39809469.
Published on 12/15/2024Pinheiro A, Petty CA, Stephens CE, Cabrera K, Palanques-Tost E, Gower AC, Marano M, Leviss EM, Boberg MJ, Mahendran J, Bock PM, Fetterman JL, Naya FJ. The Dlk1-Dio3 noncoding RNA cluster coordinately regulates mitochondrial respiration and chromatin structure to establish proper cell state for muscle differentiation. Development. 2024 Dec 15; 151(24). PMID: 39612212.
Published on 12/3/2024Dennison Himmelfarb CR, Benowitz NL, Blank MD, Bhatnagar A, Chase PJ, Davis EM, Fetterman JL, Keller-Hamilton B, Ogungbe O, Page RL, Rezk-Hanna M, Robertson RM, Whitsel LP. Impact of Smokeless Oral Nicotine Products on Cardiovascular Disease: Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Treatment: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2025 Jan 07; 151(1):e1-e21. PMID: 39624904.
Published on 11/29/2024Wu J, Ranker LR, Origgi JM, Ma J, Hao D, Benjamin EJ, Cornacchione Ross J, Xuan Z, Wijaya D, Fetterman JL, Hong T. Protecting historically marginalized groups or targeted marketing? A computational analysis of individuals engaging with public and protected cigar-branded tweets. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 Jan 01; 266:112516. PMID: 39689499.
Published on 11/12/2024Ranker LR, Tofu DA, Lu M, Wu J, Bhatnagar A, Robertson RM, Wijaya D, Hong T, Fetterman JL, Xuan Z. Concurrent Mentions of Vaping and Alcohol on Twitter: Latent Dirichlet Analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2024 Nov 12; 26:e51870. PMID: 39531640.
Published on 11/1/2024Moreira-Bouchard JD, Cunha J, Tao BS, Kim H, Lepson J, Nessen E, Milstone ZJ, Fisher N, Clinton N, Roberts LM, Serrano MA, Gopal DM, Benjamin EJ, So-Armah K, Fetterman JL. Creating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Statements for Your CV: A Resource Guide to Effectiveness and Comprehensiveness. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 Nov 01. PMID: 39485298.
Published on 10/16/2024Eckhardt CM, Balte P, Morris JE, Bhatt SP, Couper D, Fetterman J, Freedman N, Jacobs DR, Hou L, Kalhan R, Liu Y, Loehr L, Lutsey PL, Schwartz JE, White W, Yende S, London SJ, Sanchez TR, Oelsner EC. Non-cigarette tobacco products, aryl-hydrocarbon receptor repressor gene methylation and smoking-related health outcomes. Thorax. 2024 Oct 16; 79(11):1060-1068. PMID: 39033027.
Published on 10/4/2024Wu J, Fetterman JL, Cornacchione Ross J, Hong T. Effects of Message Frames and Sources in TikTok Videos for Youth Vaping Cessation: Emotions and Perceived Message Effectiveness as Mediating Mechanisms. J Adolesc Health. 2025 Jan; 76(1):122-130. PMID: 39365229.
Published on 9/3/2024Wu J, Trifiro BM, Ranker LR, Origgi JM, Benjamin EJ, Robertson RM, Bhatnagar A, Stokes AC, Xuan Z, Wijaya D, Plummer B, Cornacchione Ross J, Fetterman JL, Hong T. Health Warnings on Instagram Advertisements for Synthetic Nicotine E-Cigarettes and Engagement. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Sep 03; 7(9):e2434434. PMID: 39269702.
Media Mentions
Published on 4/28/2024
New research suggests that exposure to social media can raise the risk of smoking tobacco
Published on 4/24/2024
Daily social media use makes teens more likely to start smoking
Published on 9/23/2020
Survey data indicating teen e-cig use is down may be flawed due to a loophole in flavor ban
Published on 5/9/2020
Vaping Has Same Heart Disease Risk as Smoking
Published on 4/30/2020
E-cigarette Use Causes as Much Vascular Damage as Smoking cigarettes
Published on 4/30/2020
New Study Suggests Vaping Can Damage Our Heart The Same Way Smoking Does
Published on 4/30/2020
Study: E-Cigarettes as Bad for Arteries as Regular Cigarettes
Published on 4/30/2020
Like Tobacco, Long-term E-Cigarettes Harm Vascular Function
Published on 4/30/2020
E-Cigarette, Traditional Cigarette Use Result in Similar Vascular Damage
Published on 4/29/2020
Vaping may damage the heart just as smoking does
View full list of 22 media mentions.