About Me
I am a chronic disease epidemiologist with an extensive NIH-funded research portfolio investigating the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. I am the Principal Investigator of the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) Study, a 30+ year longitudinal cohort study of atherosclerosis and its risk factors. The study expanded in recent years into the study of the vascular predictors of dementia. I am the Principal Investigator of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study that tracked the incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. I am the multiple Principal Investigator of the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Aging Study that examines the long-term impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention on cognition and multi-morbidity in approximately 3000 persons with overweight/obesity and diabetes who participated in the original Look AHEAD intervention. I collaborate with a national team of colleagues on the analysis of data collected through a family of studies that explored the epidemiology and genetics of insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, and abdominal obesity in several multi-ethnic cohorts (IRAS Study, IRAS Family Study and GUARDIAN Consortium). Finally, I am an Associate Director in the Wake Forest CTSA program.