Vanessa Xanthakis PhD
Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology
Associate Professor, Biostatistics
72 E. Concord Street | (617) 358-1304vanessax@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.
Education
Biostatistics, PhD, Boston University School of Public Health
Applied Mathematics, MS, University of Athens
Applied Mathematics, BS, University of Athens
Publications
Plante TB, Sun Y, Balte PP, Lloyd-Jones D, Ning H, Allen N, Mongraw-Chaffin M, Pettee Gabriel K, Xanthakis V, Norwood AF, Gonzalez S, Sotres-Alvarez D, Talavera GA, Daviglus ML, Talegawkar SA, Kandula N, Elkind MSV, Rundek T, Gutierrez J, Levitan EB, Cushman M, Judd SE, Wang HE, Zakai NA, Howard VJ, Pamir N, Safford MM, Kamin Mukaz D, Fretts AM, Juraschek SP, Oelsner EC. Life's Essential 8 and Risk of Severe COVID-19 Among Adults Without Clinical Cardiovascular Disease: The C4R Study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026 Apr 27; e048256. PMID: 42037457.
Published on 4/23/2026Qian F, Gajjar P, Prescott B, Mitchell GF, Xanthakis V, Rade JJ, Nayor M. Modifiable Correlates With Systemic Thromboxane Generation and Association With Cardiovascular Outcomes: Results From the Framingham Heart Study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2026 Jun; 46(6):e324561. PMID: 42021731.
Published on 4/17/2026Campos A, Liu T, Prescott B, Ma J, Haff MG, Walker ME, Mohanty A, Xanthakis V. Association of Life's Essential 8 with Hepatic Fibrosis, MASLD, and MetALD in the Framingham Heart Study. Nutrients. 2026 Apr 17; 18(8). PMID: 42075086.
Published on 4/16/2026Xanthakis V, Prescott B, Ning H, Krishnan V, Lloyd-Jones DM. Relating Cumulative Life's Essential 8 Score With Cardiovascular Disease and Death: The Framingham Heart Study. JACC Adv. 2026 May; 5(5):102706. PMID: 41996786.
Published on 4/4/2026Alexandrou M, Parikh NI, Brilakis ES, Lloyd-Jones DM, Xanthakis V. Insights Into Cardiovascular Disease in Women From the Framingham Heart Study. JACC Adv. 2026 Apr 04; 102722. PMID: 41999366.
Published on 3/19/2026Korzinski TJ, Prescott BR, Hamel-Sellman DJ, Xanthakis V, Cooper LL, Hamburg NM, Tsao CW, Benjamin EJ, Vasan RS, Mitchell GF. Development and Validation of the AI-HeartAge Model in Framingham and UK Biobank. Hypertension. 2026 Jun; 83(6):e26209. PMID: 41853838.
Published on 2/12/2026Davis DN, Gajjar P, Xanthakis V, Lloyd-Jones D, Nayor M. Refined Heart Failure Stages Incorporating Cardiorespiratory Fitness Are Differentially Associated With Heart Failure Risk in the Community. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026 Feb 17; 15(4):e045791. PMID: 41676947.
Published on 2/4/2026Gauen AM, Petito LC, Zhang Y, Zhou H, Zhou M, Xia M, Fang M, Reynolds K, Xanthakis V, Safford M, Colantonio LD, Rana JS, Bellows BK, Moran AE, Huang X, Shah NS, Allen NB, An J. PREVENT Equations in Young Adults: Fairness, Calibration, and Performance Across Racial and Ethnic Groups. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2026 Feb 04. PMID: 41636665.
Published on 1/9/2026Cuellar-Lobo M, Gao M, Ruda MM, Prescott B, Xanthakis V, Benjamin EJ, Cheng S, Vasan RS, Liu CT, Tsao CW. Association of Cardiovascular Health and Genetic Risk for Left Ventricular Mass with Left Ventricular Structure, Function, and Incident Cardiovascular Outcomes. medRxiv. 2026 Jan 09. PMID: 41542664.
Published on 12/10/2025Hamel-Sellman DJ, Prescott BR, Korzinski TJ, Xanthakis V, Cooper LL, Hamburg NM, Tsao CW, Benjamin EJ, Vasan RS, Mitchell GF. Relations of Artificial Intelligence Vascular Age With Cardiometabolic Disease Progression: The Framingham Heart Study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Dec 16; 14(24):e044872. PMID: 41368833.
Media Mentions
Published on 6/9/2021
AHA News: Overcoming Midlife Barriers to Exercise and Better Health
Published on 6/9/2021
AHA News: Overcoming Midlife Barriers to Exercise and Better Health
Published on 4/3/2021
Healthy diet, exercise might be key to achieving optimal health in later years
Published on 4/2/2021
Exercise, Healthy Diet in Midlife May Prevent Serious Health Conditions in Senior Years
Published on 4/1/2021
Exercise, healthy diet in midlife may help in senior years • Vanessa Xanthakis, PhD, medicine
Published on 4/1/2021
Research shows how midlife diet, exercise can help in older adulthood
Published on 3/31/2021
Healthy Living in Middle Age Really Pays Off in Senior Years
Published on 3/5/2021
Study: Plant-Based Diets Improve Cardiac Function, Cognitive Health
Published on 3/5/2021
Plant-based diet high in certain foods protects brain and heart
Published on 2/26/2021
View full list of 14 media mentions.