Mohammad Arfan Ikram
Adjunct Faculty

Mohammad Arfan Ikram

Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology

Epidemiology

mikram@hsph.harvard.edu


Overview

I am Professor and Chair of Epidemiology at the department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I am also president of the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMW), the largest public funder in healthcare in The Netherlands. I am principal investigator of the Rotterdam Study and a key collaborator in the CHARGE (Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology) consortium. My research focuses on investigating the etiology of neurologic diseases in the elderly, with a particular focus on dementia, Alzheimer disease and healthy brain aging. The main areas of research are to elucidate the earliest signs of brain diseases, before clinical symptoms are present, and to understand how these lead to clinical manifestation of disease. Moreover, I am interested in preclinical signs that can be used to identify persons at highest risk of developing disease. More recently, I have expanded my research interests to focus on Healthy Longevity at large and determinants of Health care and Health care utilization.

For my research, I have used data from the large population-based Rotterdam Study and Rotterdam Scan Study that have followed nearly 15,000 persons for a period of nearly 30 years. A main focus on my research has been the use of MRI-imaging to understand brain disease. Also, I have used neuropsychological testing, genome- wide, exome chip, DNA-methylation and sequencing technologies, and recently electronic gait assessments. Not only am I interested in how these pre-clinical markers lead to clinical disease, I also want to disentangle the intricate relationships between these markers.

I am also active in various local and national research infrastructures, including EraCORe (clinic-based COVID- 19 cohort study), BBMRI-NL, Health-RI, X-omics, and Netherlands Cohorts Consortium. I have published over 1,050 international scientific papers (H-index = 103) and currently head a research group of 15 PhD-students, 3 post-docs, 3 MSc-students, and 5 research staff.

MSc, 2003, Clinical Epidemiology
Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences, Netherlands

MD, 2005, Medicine
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands

PhD, 2009, Neuroepidemiology
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands


Bibliography

Multi-ancestry genome-wide study identifies effector genes and druggable pathways for coronary artery calcification.

Kavousi M, Bos MM, Barnes HJ, Lino Cardenas CL, Wong D, Lu H, Hodonsky CJ, Landsmeer LPL, Turner AW, Kho M, Hasbani NR, de Vries PS, Bowden DW, Chopade S, Deelen J, Benavente ED, Guo X, Hofer E, Hwang SJ, Lutz SM, Lyytikäinen LP, Slenders L, Smith AV, Stanislawski MA, van Setten J, Wong Q, Yanek LR, Becker DM, Beekman M, Budoff MJ, Feitosa MF, Finan C, Hilliard AT, Kardia SLR, Kovacic JC, Kral BG, Langefeld CD, Launer LJ, Malik S, Hoesein FAAM, Mokry M, Schmidt R, Smith JA, Taylor KD, Terry JG, van der Grond J, van Meurs J, Vliegenthart R, Xu J, Young KA, Zilhão NR, Zweiker R, Assimes TL, Becker LC, Bos D, Carr JJ, Cupples LA, de Kleijn DPV, de Winther M, den Ruijter HM, Fornage M, Freedman BI, Gudnason V, Hingorani AD, Hokanson JE, Ikram MA, Išgum I, Jacobs DR, Kähönen M, Lange LA, Lehtimäki T, Pasterkamp G, Raitakari OT, Schmidt H, Slagboom PE, Uitterlinden AG, Vernooij MW, Bis JC, Franceschini N, Psaty BM, Post WS, Rotter JI, Björkegren JLM, O'Donnell CJ, Bielak LF, Peyser PA, Malhotra R, van der Laan SW, Miller CL.

Nat Genet. 2023 Oct. 55(10):1651-1664. PMID: 37770635

Intima-media thickness at the near or far wall of the common carotid artery in cardiovascular risk assessment.

Seekircher L, Tschiderer L, Lind L, Safarova MS, Kavousi M, Ikram MA, Lonn E, Yusuf S, Grobbee DE, Kastelein JJP, Visseren FLJ, Walters M, Dawson J, Higgins P, Agewall S, Catapano A, de Groot E, Espeland MA, Klingenschmid G, Magliano D, Olsen MH, Preiss D, Sander D, Skilton M, Zozulinska-Ziólkiewicz DA, Grooteman MPC, Blankestijn PJ, Kitagawa K, Okazaki S, Manzi MV, Mancusi C, Izzo R, Desvarieux M, Rundek T, Gerstein HC, Bots ML, Sweeting MJ, Lorenz MW, Willeit P.

Eur Heart J Open. 2023 Sep. 3(5):oead089. PMID: 37840587