Research

The Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) is a collaboration between researchers and more than 27,000 participants across the US and beyond who are dedicated to learning about what influences health throughout our lives.

The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study began in 1986. The study’s purpose is to evaluate hypotheses about men’s health relating nutritional factors to serious illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease, and other vascular diseases. This all-male study is designed to complement the all-female Nurses’ Health Study, which examines similar hypotheses.

The Nurses’ Health Studies are among the largest prospective investigations into the risk factors for major chronic diseases in women. Starting with the original Nurses’ Health Study in 1976, the studies are now in their third generation with Nurses’ Health Study 3 (which is still enrolling male and female nurses) and count more than 275,000 participants. Due to their unique strengths, including regular follow-up of study participants since 1976 and repeated assessment of health and lifestyle factors, the studies have played an instrumental role in shaping public health recommendations.

The Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer is an international consortium of cohort studies with the goal of providing comprehensive evaluations of associations between dietary and anthropometric factors and risk of several cancers. To date, cancers examined include breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, kidney, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer.

Puerto Ricans have high, unexplained rates of factors that increase their risk of cardiovascular disease and related diseases. To study these factors, the Puerto Rico Observational Study of Psychosocial, Environmental, and Chronic disease Trends (PROSPECT) was launched. PROSPECT is the largest investigation to ever be conducted in Puerto Rico that examines the different health determinants (chronic diseases, diet, social and emotional situations, lifestyle) that contribute to the overall health conditions of Puerto Ricans. The results of the study will help design public policy related to health and will inform health programs in Puerto Rico based on the needs of Puerto Ricans.

The Dietary Biomarkers Development Center is part of a consortium funded by NIH and the USDA. The Center’s current project is the Dietary Biomarkers Study, which seeks to measure and understand the concentrations, fluctuations, and movement of specific foods through the body over time. The goal is to identify and validate objective biomarkers that can serve as independent markers of dietary intake and complement current dietary assessment methods.

Led by Christopher Golden, the group uses planetary health approaches to examine the human health impacts of climate and environmental change. Half of the research team focuses on data science approaches to establishing systems of climate-smart public health, while the other half focuses on healthy and sustainable food systems, with special emphasis on aquatic foods.

Led by Erica Kenney, the group focuses on identifying effective and feasible strategies to make eating healthfully easy, accessible, and affordable for everyone. Their goal is to build evidence to support the development and implementation of effective population-level strategies that result in better nutrition for children and families.

Led by Josiemer Mattei, this group conducts research to identify the genetic, dietary, and psychosocial determinants of chronic disease and physiological stress (allostatic load) as a framework to explain and alleviate health disparities in racial/ethnic and minority groups, particularly Latinos in the U.S. and Latin America. Their work is done through multiple epidemiological studies as well as community-based programs and population-wide initiatives to promote healthy eating and improve cardiometabolic outcomes.

The Neuroepidemiology Research Group is a team of scientists collaborating in the epidemiological investigation of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and other neurological diseases. Based at the Harvard Chan School, with collaborators at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and other institutions both in the U.S. and abroad, the team’s primary research involves the application of epidemiological methods to identify causal risk factors for neurological diseases, with a focus on large prospective investigations into the effects of nutrition, environment, and infectious agents on neurological disease risk, as well as the identification of biomarkers and genetic determinants of neurological disease susceptibility.

The Nutrition Questionnaire Service Center provides researchers with access to Harvard’s semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and nutrient database, which is the result of over forty years of continued development, evaluation, refinement, and re-evaluation. More recently, the database has expanded to include four environmental impact metrics – greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, irrigation water use, nitrogen use, and high-quality cropland use – for the many of the food items listed in the FFQ.

The Nutritional Biomarker Lab provides reliable lab analysis services to researchers within the Harvard community and beyond, specializing in the analysis of antioxidants, vitamins, and fatty acids profile in foods and human samples, as well as the adoption and development of custom assays as requested. Additional services include analysis of blood lipids and lipoproteins, including novel HDL subspecies that are newly emerging as important risk factors in many diseases. 

The Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health empowers people around the globe to live with purpose, equanimity, and joy through the practice of mindfulness. The Center actively pursues evidence-based approaches to improving health and well-being through mindfulness, undertaking rigorous scientific inquiry to identify best practices and evaluate potential benefits. The Center also seeks to engage with Harvard University and the public to share findings, providing resources to help individuals of every background practice mindfulness in their daily lives, including mindful eating, to protect both their health and the health of the planet. By pursuing these dual tracks of academic research and public engagement, the Center aims to improve public health and inspire global action.