Yuan Ma
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology
Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Departments
Department of Epidemiology
Department of Nutrition
Other Positions
Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Nutrition
Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Biography
Dr. Ma is an epidemiologist with medical and PhD training in preventive medicine, cardiovascular epidemiology, and aging epidemiology. She directs the Epidemiology of Aging Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, including the Brain Aging Research Program and the Epidemiology of Aging course (EPI254). Dr. Ma’s primary research focuses on brain aging, particularly the prevention of dementia and stroke along the heart-brain axis. Through her research and teaching in the field of aging, she has also become passionate about the prevention of multiple age-related diseases by identifying and targeting their shared causes, as well as addressing methodological challenges critical for rigorous causal inference in epidemiological studies of aging.
Dr. Ma’s work emphasizes team science and multidisciplinary collaboration and utilizes causal inference, state-of-the-art neuroimaging, neuropathology, and multi-omics approaches in epidemiological studies. Her past work has investigated major modifiable risk factors and prevention strategies for hypertension and cardiometabolic disease, as well as the role of blood pressure variability in brain aging. Dr. Ma is a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the National Academy of Medicine Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award, the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, the AHA Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award, and the Best Thesis Mentor Award at Harvard Chan.
Dr. Ma is currently leading several studies focusing on precision blood pressure control and brain health in well-established cohort studies and clinical trials, and co-leading a large-scale study investigating clonal hematopoiesis and major age-related diseases in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
Selected Publications:
Zhang W, Redline S, Viswanathan A, Ascher S, Hari D, Juraschek SP, Tzourio C, Drawz P, Lipsitz LA, Mittleman MA, Ma Y. Hypotensive Episodes Identified on 24-h Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Impaired Cognitive Function. Hypertension. 2025;82(4):627-37. PMID: 39840460.
Cai W, Neitzel J, Glodzik L, Blacker D, Ma Y. Effect Modifiers of the Association of Blood Pressure with Brain Amyloid and Tau Pathology. Neurology, 2025;104(6):e213441. PMID: 40014836.
Ma Y, Zhang Y, Hamaya R, Westerhof BE, Shaltout HA, Kavousi M, Mattace-Raso F, Hofman A, Wolters FJ, Lipsitz LA, Ikram MA. Baroreflex Sensitivity and Long-Term Dementia Risk in Older Adults. Hypertension. 2025 Feb;82(2):347-356. PMID: 39670317.
Ma Y, He FJ, Sun Q, Yuan C, Kieneker LM, Curhan GC, MacGregor GA, Bakker SJL, Campbell NRC, Wang M, Rimm EB, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hofman A, Gansevoort RT, Cook NR, Hu FB. 24-hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion and cardiovascular risk. N Engl J Med. 2022; 386:252-263.PMID: 34767706.
Ma Y, Zhou J, Kavousi M, Lipsitz LA, Raso FUSM, et al. Lower complexity and higher variability in systolic blood pressure are associated with elevated long-term risk of dementia: The Rotterdam Study. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2020. PMID: 33860609.
Ma Y, Yilmaz P, Bos D, Blacker D, Viswanathan A, Ikram MA, Hofman A, Vernooij MW, Ikram MK. Blood pressure variation and subclinical brain disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;75:2387-2399. PMID: 32408975.
