Academic Profiles
Adjunct Faculty

Rob van Dam

Adjunct Professor of Nutrition

Nutrition

rvandam@hsph.harvard.edu

Links

Overview

Dr. van Dam conducts research into the role of diet in the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases with a particular interest in Asian diets. The ultimate goal of his research is to identify opportunities for the prevention of these chronic conditions though dietary changes. His research is based on large-scale cohort studies, dietary intervention studies, and meta-analyses. Current research concerns the integration of data on dietary intakes and biochemical markers to identify dietary factors that affect the development of type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. He also conducts research to obtain a better understanding of the role of the physical, social and cultural environment in shaping dietary habits for the development of more effective interventions for the prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

[b]Current Research Projects[/b]

[b]Dietary patterns and dietary components in relation to risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases[/b]

This research program aims to elucidate the role of diet in the etiology of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Thus far, Dr. van Dam has conducted studies on the role of vitamin D, calcium and dairy, coffee and its components, dietary fat and meat consumption, intake of flavonoids, breakfast consumption and meal frequency, and dietary patterns. In the US, he is currently involved in an NIH-funded study on dietary polyphenols, urinary biomarkers, and risk of type 2 diabetes based on the Nurses’ Health Study. In Singapore, he conducts a study on dietary fatty acids, oxilipins (fatty acid derived signalling molecules), inflammation and risk of coronary heart disease in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. He is particularly interested in the role of Asian diets, because the variation in foods and food components is markedly different from more widely studied American and European populations.

[b]Behavioral and genetic determinants of dietary habits and the development of obesity[/b]

Genetic studies of determinants of dietary habits include genome-wide association studies of caffeine intake, taste-based food preferences, and eating styles. Dr. van Dam is also interested in the behavioral determinants (e.g. cultural factors, neighborhood environment) of dietary habits and the development of obesity. This research is part of the National University of Singapore Global Asia Institute project for the prevention of type 2 diabetes that is a collaboration with HSPH. The goal of these research projects is a more complete understanding of determinants of eating habits to develop effective interventions for the prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Bibliography

Genetic drivers of heterogeneity in type 2 diabetes pathophysiology.

Suzuki K, Hatzikotoulas K, Southam L, Taylor HJ, Yin X, Lorenz KM, Mandla R, Huerta-Chagoya A, Melloni GEM, Kanoni S, Rayner NW, Bocher O, Arruda AL, Sonehara K, Namba S, Lee SSK, Preuss MH, Petty LE, Schroeder P, Vanderwerff B, Kals M, Bragg F, Lin K, Guo X, Zhang W, Yao J, Kim YJ, Graff M, Takeuchi F, Nano J, Lamri A, Nakatochi M, Moon S, Scott RA, Cook JP, Lee JJ, Pan I, Taliun D, Parra EJ, Chai JF, Bielak LF, Tabara Y, Hai Y, Thorleifsson G, Grarup N, Sofer T, Wuttke M, Sarnowski C, Gieger C, Nousome D, Trompet S, Kwak SH, Long J, Sun M, Tong L, Chen WM, Nongmaithem SS, Noordam R, Lim VJY, Tam CHT, Joo YY, Chen CH, Raffield LM, Prins BP, Nicolas A, Yanek LR, Chen G, Brody JA, Kabagambe E, An P, Xiang AH, Choi HS, Cade BE, Tan J, Broadaway KA, Williamson A, Kamali Z, Cui J, Thangam M, Adair LS, Adeyemo A, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Ahluwalia TS, Anand SS, Bertoni A, Bork-Jensen J, Brandslund I, Buchanan TA, Burant CF, Butterworth AS, Canouil M, Chan JCN, Chang LC, Chee ML, Chen J, Chen SH, Chen YT, Chen Z, Chuang LM, Cushman M, Danesh J, Das SK, de Silva HJ, Dedoussis G, Dimitrov L, Doumatey AP, Du S, Duan Q, Eckardt KU, Emery LS, Evans DS, Evans MK, Fischer K, Floyd JS, Ford I, Franco OH, Frayling TM, Freedman BI, Genter P, Gerstein HC, Giedraitis V, González-Villalpando C, González-Villalpando ME, Gordon-Larsen P, Gross M, Guare LA, Hackinger S, Hakaste L, Han S, Hattersley AT, Herder C, Horikoshi M, Howard AG, Hsueh W, Huang M, Huang W, Hung YJ, Hwang MY, Hwu CM, Ichihara S, Ikram MA, Ingelsson M, Islam MT, Isono M, Jang HM, Jasmine F, Jiang G, Jonas JB, Jørgensen T, Kamanu FK, Kandeel FR, Kasturiratne A, Katsuya T, Kaur V, Kawaguchi T, Keaton JM, Kho AN, Khor CC, Kibriya MG, Kim DH, Kronenberg F, Kuusisto J, Läll K, Lange LA, Lee KM, Lee MS, Lee NR, Leong A, Li L, Li Y, Li-Gao R, Ligthart S, Lindgren CM, Linneberg A, Liu CT, Liu J, Locke AE, Louie T, Luan J, Luk AO, Luo X, Lv J, Lynch JA, Lyssenko V, Maeda S, Mamakou V, Mansuri SR, Matsuda K, Meitinger T, Melander O, Metspalu A, Mo H, Morris AD, Moura FA, Nadler JL, Nalls MA, Nayak U, Ntalla I, Okada Y, Orozco L, Patel SR, Patil S, Pei P, Pereira MA, Peters A, Pirie FJ, Polikowsky HG, Porneala B, Prasad G, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Reiner AP, Roden M, Rohde R, Roll K, Sabanayagam C, Sandow K, Sankareswaran A, Sattar N, Schönherr S, Shahriar M, Shen B, Shi J, Shin DM, Shojima N, Smith JA, So WY, Stancáková A, Steinthorsdottir V, Stilp AM, Strauch K, Taylor KD, Thorand B, Thorsteinsdottir U, Tomlinson B, Tran TC, Tsai FJ, Tuomilehto J, Tusie-Luna T, Udler MS, Valladares-Salgado A, van Dam RM, van Klinken JB, Varma R, Wacher-Rodarte N, Wheeler E, Wickremasinghe AR, van Dijk KW, Witte DR, Yajnik CS, Yamamoto K, Yamamoto K, Yoon K, Yu C, Yuan JM, Yusuf S, Zawistowski M, Zhang L, Zheng W, Raffel LJ, Igase M, Ipp E, Redline S, Cho YS, Lind L, Province MA, Fornage M, Hanis CL, Ingelsson E, Zonderman AB, Psaty BM, Wang YX, Rotimi CN, Becker DM, Matsuda F, Liu Y, Yokota M, Kardia SLR, Peyser PA, Pankow JS, Engert JC, Bonnefond A, Froguel P, Wilson JG, Sheu WHH, Wu JY, Hayes MG, Ma RCW, Wong TY, Mook-Kanamori DO, Tuomi T, Chandak GR, Collins FS, Bharadwaj D, Paré G, Sale MM, Ahsan H, Motala AA, Shu XO, Park KS, Jukema JW, Cruz M, Chen YI, Rich SS, McKean-Cowdin R, Grallert H, Cheng CY, Ghanbari M, Tai ES, Dupuis J, Kato N, Laakso M, Köttgen A, Koh WP, Bowden DW, Palmer CNA, Kooner JS, Kooperberg C, Liu S, North KE, Saleheen D, Hansen T, Pedersen O, Wareham NJ, Lee J, Kim BJ, Millwood IY, Walters RG, Stefansson K, Ahlqvist E, Goodarzi MO, Mohlke KL, Langenberg C, Haiman CA, Loos RJF, Florez JC, Rader DJ, Ritchie MD, Zöllner S, Mägi R, Marston NA, Ruff CT, van Heel DA, Finer S, Denny JC, Yamauchi T, Kadowaki T, Chambers JC, Ng MCY, Sim X, Below JE, Tsao PS, Chang KM, McCarthy MI, Meigs JB, Mahajan A, Spracklen CN, Mercader JM, Boehnke M, Rotter JI, Vujkovic M, Voight BF, Morris AP, Zeggini E.

Nature. 2024 Mar. 627(8003):347-357. PMID: 38374256

Genome-Wide Interaction Analysis With DASH Diet Score Identified Novel Loci for Systolic Blood Pressure.

Guirette M, Lan J, McKeown NM, Brown MR, Chen H, de Vries PS, Kim H, Rebholz CM, Morrison AC, Bartz TM, Fretts AM, Guo X, Lemaitre RN, Liu CT, Noordam R, de Mutsert R, Rosendaal FR, Wang CA, Beilin LJ, Mori TA, Oddy WH, Pennell CE, Chai JF, Whitton C, van Dam RM, Liu J, Tai ES, Sim X, Neuhouser ML, Kooperberg C, Tinker LF, Franceschini N, Huan T, Winkler TW, Bentley AR, Gauderman WJ, Heerkens L, Tanaka T, van Rooij J, Munroe PB, Warren HR, Voortman T, Chen H, Rao DC, Levy D, Ma J.

Hypertension. 2024 Mar. 81(3):552-560. PMID: 38226488

Genome-Wide Interaction Analysis with DASH Diet Score Identified Novel Loci for Systolic Blood Pressure.

Guirette M, Lan J, McKeown N, Brown MR, Chen H, DE Vries PS, Kim H, Rebholz CM, Morrison AC, Bartz TM, Fretts AM, Guo X, Lemaitre RN, Liu CT, Noordam R, DE Mutsert R, Rosendaal FR, Wang CA, Beilin L, Mori TA, Oddy WH, Pennell CE, Chai JF, Whitton C, VAN Dam RM, Liu J, Tai ES, Sim X, Neuhouser ML, Kooperberg C, Tinker L, Franceschini N, Huan T, Winkler TW, Bentley AR, Gauderman WJ, Heerkens L, Tanaka T, van Rooij J, Munroe PB, Warren HR, Voortman T, Chen H, Rao DC, Levy D, Ma J.

medRxiv. 2023 Nov 11. PMID: 37986948

Gene-educational attainment interactions in a multi-population genome-wide meta-analysis identify novel lipid loci.

de Las Fuentes L, Schwander KL, Brown MR, Bentley AR, Winkler TW, Sung YJ, Munroe PB, Miller CL, Aschard H, Aslibekyan S, Bartz TM, Bielak LF, Chai JF, Cheng CY, Dorajoo R, Feitosa MF, Guo X, Hartwig FP, Horimoto A, Kolcic I, Lim E, Liu Y, Manning AK, Marten J, Musani SK, Noordam R, Padmanabhan S, Rankinen T, Richard MA, Ridker PM, Smith AV, Vojinovic D, Zonderman AB, Alver M, Boissel M, Christensen K, Freedman BI, Gao C, Giulianini F, Harris SE, He M, Hsu FC, Kühnel B, Laguzzi F, Li X, Lyytikäinen LP, Nolte IM, Poveda A, Rauramaa R, Riaz M, Robino A, Sofer T, Takeuchi F, Tayo BO, van der Most PJ, Verweij N, Ware EB, Weiss S, Wen W, Yanek LR, Zhan Y, Amin N, Arking DE, Ballantyne C, Boerwinkle E, Brody JA, Broeckel U, Campbell A, Canouil M, Chai X, Chen YI, Chen X, Chitrala KN, Concas MP, de Faire U, de Mutsert R, de Silva HJ, de Vries PS, Do A, Faul JD, Fisher V, Floyd JS, Forrester T, Friedlander Y, Girotto G, Gu CC, Hallmans G, Heikkinen S, Heng CK, Homuth G, Hunt S, Ikram MA, Jacobs DR, Kavousi M, Khor CC, Kilpeläinen TO, Koh WP, Komulainen P, Langefeld CD, Liang J, Liu K, Liu J, Lohman K, Mägi R, Manichaikul AW, McKenzie CA, Meitinger T, Milaneschi Y, Nauck M, Nelson CP, O'Connell JR, Palmer ND, Pereira AC, Perls T, Peters A, Polašek O, Raitakari OT, Rice K, Rice TK, Rich SS, Sabanayagam C, Schreiner PJ, Shu XO, Sidney S, Sims M, Smith JA, Starr JM, Strauch K, Tai ES, Taylor KD, Tsai MY, Uitterlinden AG, van Heemst D, Waldenberger M, Wang YX, Wei WB, Wilson G, Xuan D, Yao J, Yu C, Yuan JM, Zhao W, Becker DM, Bonnefond A, Bowden DW, Cooper RS, Deary IJ, Divers J, Esko T, Franks PW, Froguel P, Gieger C, Jonas JB, Kato N, Lakka TA, Leander K, Lehtimäki T, Magnusson PKE, North KE, Ntalla I, Penninx B, Samani NJ, Snieder H, Spedicati B, van der Harst P, Völzke H, Wagenknecht LE, Weir DR, Wojczynski MK, Wu T, Zheng W, Zhu X, Bouchard C, Chasman DI, Evans MK, Fox ER, Gudnason V, Hayward C, Horta BL, Kardia SLR, Krieger JE, Mook-Kanamori DO, Peyser PA, Province MM, Psaty BM, Rudan I, Sim X, Smith BH, van Dam RM, van Duijn CM, Wong TY, Arnett DK, Rao DC, Gauderman J, Liu CT, Morrison AC, Rotter JI, Fornage M.

Front Genet. 2023. 14:1235337. PMID: 38028628

News

view more news