M.D., 1988, Tongji Medical University, China
M.P.H., 1994, University of Illinois at Chicago
Ph.D., 1996, University of Illinois at Chicago

Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Director, Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center Epidemiology and Genetics Core

Co-Director, Program in Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention, HSPH

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-program/index.html

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nutrition-news/obesity-epi-book/

Dr. Hu's major research interests include:

1. Epidemiology and prevention of type 2 diabetes and metabolic diseases through diet and lifestyle.
2. Gene-environment interactions in relation to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular complications.
3. Methodological development (especially dietary pattern analyses) in nutritional epidemiology.
4. Obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease in Chinese populations.

Dr. Hu's research has focused on diet and lifestyle determinants of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is the Principal Investigator of the diabetes component of the Nurses' Health Study, and leads two NIH-funded projects to study biochemical and genetic risk factors for cardiovascular complications among patients with diabetes in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals' Follow-up Study. Dr. Hu's research has demonstrated that the vast majority of type 2 diabetes is preventable through diet and lifestyle modifications. His group has conducted detailed analyses of many dietary and lifestyle factors and risk of diabetes, including sugar-sweetened beverages, caffeine, iron, magnesium, and dietary patterns. These findings have contributed to current public health recommendations and policies for prevention of chronic disease. His group has also examined the link between pre-diabetes and cardiovascular disease and the relationship between inflammatory markers, iron overload, and risk of type 2 diabetes.

His current research has expanded to investigate complex interactions among nutrition, biomarkers, and genetic factors in the development of diabetes and cardiovascular complications. Dr. Hu is also collaborating with researchers from China to study obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease in Chinese populations.

Hu FB, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Liu S, Solomon CG, Willett WC. Diet and lifestyle and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. New Engl J Med. 2001;345:790-7.

Hu FB. The Mediterranean diet and mortality--olive oil and beyond. N Engl J Med. 2003;348(26):2595-2596.

Jiang R, Manson JE, Meigs JB, Ma J, Rifai N, Hu FB. Body iron stores in relation to risk of type 2 diabetes in apparently healthy women. JAMA. 2004;291:711-717.

Schulze MB, Shai I, Manson JE, Li T, Rifai N, Jiang R, Hu FB. Joint role of non-HDL cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin in predicting future coronary heart disease events among women with type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia. 2004 Dec;47(12):2129-36.

Qi L, Li T, Rimm E, Zhang C, Rifai N, Hunter D, Doria A, and Hu FB. The +276 polymorphism of the APM1 gene and plasma adiponectin concentration and cardiovascular risk in diabetic men. Diabetes, 2005;54(5):1607-10.

Qi L, van Dam RM, Meigs JB, Manson JE, Hunter D, Hu FB. Genetic variation in IL6 gene and type 2 diabetes: Tagging-SNP haplotype analysis in large-scale case-control study and meta-analysis. Hum Mol Genet. 2006; 15(11): 1914-20.

Zhang C, Qi L, Hunter D, Meigs J, Manson JE, van Dam RB, Hu FB. Variant of transcription factor 7-like 2 gene (TCF7L2) and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in large cohorts of U.S. men and women. Diabetes. 2006; 55(9):2645-8.

Halton TL, Willett WC, Liu S, Manson JE, Albert CM, Rexrode K, Hu FB. Low-carbohydrate-diet score and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. New Engl J Med 2006;355:1991-2002.

He Y, Jiang B, Wang J, Feng K, Chang Q, Fan L, Li X, Hu FB. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its relation to cardiovascular disease in an elderly Chinese population. J Am Coll Cardio. 2006; 47(8):1588-94.

Qi L, Rifai N, Hu FB. Interleukin 6 receptor gene variations, plasma interleukin 6 levels, and type 2 diabetes in US women. Diabetes. 2007;56(12):3075-81.