Vanessa Xanthakis PhD

Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology

Associate Professor, Biostatistics

72 E. Concord Street | (617) 358-1304
vanessax@bu.edu

Sections

Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology

Centers

Framingham Heart Study

Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research

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.

Websites

BU Profile

Section of Preventitive Medicine and Epidemiology Faculty

Framingham Heart Study

ResearchGate

Education

Biostatistics, PhD, Boston University School of Public Health

Applied Mathematics, MS, University of Athens

Applied Mathematics, BS, University of Athens

Publications

Published on 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.

PubMed

Published on 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.

PubMed

Published on 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.

PubMed

Published on 1/7/2025

Rade JJ, Kronsberg SS, Kickler TS, Vasan RS, Xanthakis V, Nayor MG, Barton BA. Association of Systemic Thromboxane Generation With Risk of Developing Heart Failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2025 Jan 07; 85(1):58-70. PMID: 39779056.

PubMed

Published on 12/16/2024

Xia M, An J, Fischer H, Allen NB, Xanthakis V, Zhang Y. Blood Pressure Trajectories During Young Adulthood and Cardiovascular Events in Later Life. Am J Hypertens. 2024 Dec 16; 38(1):38-45. PMID: 39325713.

PubMed

Published on 11/20/2024

Carbonneau M, Li Y, Qu Y, Zheng Y, Wood AC, Wang M, Liu C, Huan T, Joehanes R, Guo X, Yao J, Taylor KD, Tracy RP, Peter D, Liu Y, Johnson WC, Post WS, Blackwell T, Rotter JI, Rich SS, Redline S, Fornage M, Wang J, Ning H, Hou L, Lloyd-Jones D, Ferrier K, Min YI, Carson AP, Raffield LM, Teumer A, Grabe HJ, Völzke H, Nauck M, Dörr M, Domingo-Relloso A, Fretts A, Tellez-Plaza M, Cole S, Navas-Acien A, Wang M, Murabito JM, Heard-Costa NL, Prescott B, Xanthakis V, Mozaffarian D, Levy D, Ma J. DNA Methylation Signatures of Cardiovascular Health Provide Insights into Diseases. medRxiv. 2024 Nov 20. PMID: 39606375.

PubMed

Published on 9/6/2024

Gaye B, Valentin E, Xanthakis V, Perier MC, Celermajer DS, Shipley M, Marijon E, Song RJ, Empana JP, Ramachandran VS, Jouven X. Author Correction: Association between change in heart rate over years and life span in the Paris Prospective 1, the Whitehall 1, and Framingham studies. Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 06; 14(1):20868. PMID: 39242738.

PubMed

Published on 8/29/2024

Gaye B, Valentin E, Xanthakis V, Perier MC, Celermajer DS, Shipley M, Marijon E, Song RJ, Empana JP, Ramachandran VS, Jouven X. Association between change in heart rate over years and life span in the Paris Prospective 1, the Whitehall 1, and Framingham studies. Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 29; 14(1):20052. PMID: 39209972.

PubMed

Published on 8/1/2024

Rao P, Keyes MJ, Mi MY, Barber JL, Tahir UA, Deng S, Clish CB, Shen D, Farrell LA, Wilson JG, Gao Y, Yimer WK, Ekunwe L, Hall ME, Muntner PM, Guo X, Taylor KD, Tracy RP, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Xanthakis V, Vasan RS, Bouchard C, Sarzynski MA, Gerszten RE, Robbins JM. Plasma Proteomics of Exercise Blood Pressure and Incident Hypertension. JAMA Cardiol. 2024 Aug 01; 9(8):713-722. PMID: 38865108.

PubMed

Published on 6/6/2024

Lau ES, Zhao Y, Benjamin EJ, Ramachandran VS, Xanthakis V, Cheng S, Ho JE. Sex Differences in Left Ventricular Function and Cardiac Mechanics. J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 Jun 18; 13(12):e035781. PMID: 38842280.

PubMed

View full list of 151 publications.