Professor Joann E. Manson

Professor of Medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School
Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH)

Biography

JoAnn E. Manson, MD, MPH, DrPH, MACP, is Professor of Medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Dr. Manson is a physician epidemiologist, endocrinologist, and Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI of several research studies, including the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Center In Boston, the cardiovascular component of the Nurses’ Health Study, the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL); the COSMOS trial, and the VItamin D for COVID-19 (VIVID) trial. Her primary research interests include randomized clinical prevention trials of nutritional and lifestyle factors related to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, the role of endogenous and exogenous estrogens as determinants of chronic disease, life course-related risk factors for CVD in women, and biomarker predictors of CVD. Dr. Manson has received numerous honors, including the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Population Research Prize, AHA’s Distinguished Scientist Award, AHA’s Research Achievement Award, election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (National Academy of Medicine), membership in the Association of American Physicians, fellowship in AAAS, Bernadine Healy Award for Visionary Leadership in Women’s Health, Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Women Award, James D. Bruce Memorial Award from the American College of Physicians (ACP), and election to mastership in ACP. Dr. Manson has published more than 1,200 peer-reviewed articles in the medical literature, is the author or editor of several books and textbooks, serves as Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Clinical Trials, and is past president of the North American Menopause Society. She is one of the most highly cited researchers in the world and was one of the physicians featured in the National Library of Medicine’s exhibition, History of American Women Physicians

Expert content

LBPMC Publications

The effect of statins on cardiovascular outcomes by smoking status: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort studies 2024-12-04
CONCLUSIONS: Increased consumption of dark, but not milk, chocolate was associated with lower risk of T2D. Increased consumption of milk, but not dark, chocolate was associated with long term weight gain. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to replicate these findings and further explore the mechanisms.
Binkai Liu
Dietary plant-to-animal protein ratio and risk of cardiovascular disease in 3 prospective cohorts 2024-12-04
CONCLUSIONS: In cohort studies of United States adults, a higher plant-to-animal protein ratio is associated with lower risks of CVD and CAD, but not stroke. Furthermore, a higher ratio combined with higher protein density showed the most cardiovascular benefit.
Andrea J Glenn
The effect of vitamin D<sub>3</sub> supplementation on the incidence of type 2 diabetes in healthy older adults not at high risk for diabetes (FIND): a randomised controlled trial 2024-12-02
CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Among generally healthy older adults who are not at high risk for diabetes and who have serum 25(OH)D(3) levels that are sufficient for bone health, vitamin D(3) supplementation did not significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
Jyrki K Virtanen
Long-term cognitive effects of menopausal hormone therapy: Findings from the KEEPS Continuation Study 2024-11-21
CONCLUSIONS: In these KEEPS Continuation analyses, there were no long-term cognitive effects of short-term exposure to mHT started in early menopause versus placebo. These data provide reassurance about the long-term neurocognitive safety of mHT for symptom management in healthy, recently postmenopausal women, while also suggesting that mHT does not improve or preserve cognitive function in […]
Carey E Gleason
Human Plasma Proteomic Profile of Clonal Hematopoiesis 2024-11-18
Plasma proteomic profiles associated with subclinical somatic mutations in blood cells may offer novel insights into downstream clinical consequences. Here, we explore such patterns in clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), which is linked to several cancer and non-cancer outcomes, including coronary artery disease (CAD). Among 61,833 ancestrally diverse participants (3,881 with CHIP) from NHLBI […]
Zhi Yu
Modifiable lifestyle factors in the primordial prevention of hypertension in three US cohorts 2024-11-06
CONCLUSION: Healthy weight during adulthood was most substantially associated with incident hypertension among lifestyle factors, but diet, physical activity, and alcohol intake were also related to the risk across all ages, and hypertension-free periods, with stronger associations in early-onset hypertension.
Rikuta Hamaya
Biomarkers of glucose-insulin homeostasis and incident type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease: results from the Vitamin D and Omega-3 trial 2024-11-03
CONCLUSIONS: Each of insulin, C-peptide, IRS, and HbA1c were associated with incident T2D with the strongest association noted for HbA1c. While HbA1c was significantly associated with CVD risk, a novel IRS appears to be associated with CHD risk. Neither vitamin D nor n-3 FA modified the associations between these biomarkers and cardiometabolic outcomes.
Frank Qian
Life's Essential 8 and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in U.S. Women With Breast Cancer 2024-10-31
CONCLUSIONS: Higher LE8 scores were associated with a lower risk of incident CVD among women with BC in the United States.
Elena Wadden
Effects of healthy low-carbohydrate diet and time-restricted eating on weight and gut microbiome in adults with overweight or obesity: Feeding RCT 2024-10-25
The effect of a healthy low-carbohydrate diet (HLCD) and time-restricted eating (TRE), alone or in combination, on body weight and gut microbiome beyond caloric restriction remains unclear. In this 12-week two-by-two factorial randomized trial with a 28-week follow-up among 96 participants with overweight or obesity, isocaloric-restricted feeding yields significant weight loss, ranging from 2.57 to […]
Lin Li
Proteomic Signature of BMI and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease 2024-10-11
CONCLUSIONS: Higher pro-BMI score is significantly associated with higher IHD risk, independent of actual BMI levels. Our findings suggest that plasma proteins hold promise as complementary markers for diagnosing obesity and may facilitate personalized interventions.
Hao Ma
Rare variant contribution to the heritability of coronary artery disease 2024-10-09
Whole genome sequences (WGS) enable discovery of rare variants which may contribute to missing heritability of coronary artery disease (CAD). To measure their contribution, we apply the GREML-LDMS-I approach to WGS of 4949 cases and 17,494 controls of European ancestry from the NHLBI TOPMed program. We estimate CAD heritability at 34.3% assuming a prevalence of […]
Ghislain Rocheleau
Associations between birthweight and preterm birth and the ages at menarche and menopause 2024-10-04
CONCLUSIONS: These findings raise concerns that, as more preterm and low birthweight individuals survive to adulthood, the prevalence of earlier-onset menarche and menopause may increase. Clinical counseling and interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of preterm and low birthweight births, as well as intensification of lifestyle modifications to reduce CVD risk among women with these […]
Christian Daniele
Recent Trends in Menopausal Hormone Therapy Use in the US: Insights, Disparities, and Implications for Practice 2024-09-27
No abstract
Tara K Iyer
Proteomic signatures of healthy dietary patterns are associated with lower risks of major chronic diseases and mortality 2024-09-27
Healthy dietary patterns have been linked to a decreased risk of chronic diseases. However, it remains uncertain whether proteomic signatures can reflect proteome response to healthy diet patterns, and whether these proteomic signatures are associated with health outcomes. Using data from the UK Biobank including Olink plasma proteins, we identified substantial proteomic variation in relation […]
Kai Zhu
AESurv: autoencoder survival analysis for accurate early prediction of coronary heart disease 2024-09-26
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Accurate time-to-event CHD prediction models with high-dimensional DNA methylation and clinical features may assist with early prediction and intervention strategies. We developed a state-of-the-art deep learning autoencoder survival analysis model (AESurv) to effectively analyze high-dimensional blood DNA […]
Yike Shen
Ultra-processed foods and cardiovascular disease: analysis of three large US prospective cohorts and a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies 2024-09-17
BACKGROUND: Prospective associations between total and groups of ultra-processed foods (UPF) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remained to be characterised. Our aim was to assess the association of total and group-specific UPF intakes with CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke in three large prospective cohorts of US adults. Additionally, we conducted a systematic review and […]
Kenny Mendoza
Potato Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Harmonized Analysis of 7 Prospective Cohorts 2024-09-17
CONCLUSIONS: Although consumption of total potato is not associated with T2D risk, a modest elevated risk of T2D is observed with fried potato consumption.
Luc Djousse
Long-term nighttime aircraft noise exposure and risk of hypertension in a prospective cohort of female nurses 2024-09-13
There is growing interest in cardiometabolic outcomes associated with nighttime noise, given that noise can disturb sleep and sleep disturbance can increase cardiometabolic risk such as hypertension. However, there is little empirical research evaluating the association between nighttime aircraft noise and hypertension risk. In this study, we expand on previous work to evaluate associations between […]
Junenette L Peters
Circulating dimethylguanidino valeric acid, dietary factors, and risk of coronary heart disease 2024-09-07
CONCLUSION: Higher levels of plasma DMGV, a metabolite reflecting unfavorable CHD-related dietary intakes, were associated with an increased risk of CHD. The unfavorable association was attenuated by cardiometabolic risk factor status. Our study underscores the potential importance of plasma DMGV as an early biomarker associated with diet and the long-term risk of CHD among women.
Yoriko Heianza
Diabetes risk reduction diet and risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality: A prospective cohort study 2024-09-06
BACKGROUND: We aimed to prospectively evaluate the association between a diabetes risk reduction diet (DRRD) score and the risk of liver cancer development and chronic liver disease-specific mortality.
Yun Chen