Heather J. Ribaudo

Biography

Heather Ribaudo (formerly Heather Beacon) is a Principal Research Scientist in the Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research (CBAR) within Department of Biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Ribaudo has been involved in collaborative research in HIV since joining CBAR as a post-doctoral fellow in 1997. Through her role as Senior Statistician Statistical and Data Management Center (SDMC) of the ACTG (Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally, formerly AIDS Clinical Trials Group) Network, she has been responsible for the design, monitoring, and analysis of many major HIV clinical trials and observational studies.

Dr. Ribaudo’s early research work focused on the primary treatment of HIV, including optimization of antiretroviral treatment strategies and pharmacogenetics of antiretroviral agents. More recently, Dr. Ribaudo’s focus has been on clinical trials of novel interventions targeting HIV-associated immune activation and inflammation. She is the lead statistician of the REPRIEVE trial, an ambitious international randomized, phase IV clinical endpoint trial placebo-controlled cardiovascular disease prevention among people with HIV-1 at low to moderate cardiovascular risk. REPRIEVE (https://www.reprievetrial.org/) enrolled over 7700 participants globally making it the largest clinical trial in people with HIV and, following recent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) action, has changed standard of care for people with HIV-1 (PWH). As co-PI of the REPRIEVE Data Coordinating Center, Dr Ribaudo has a led a team of statisticians responsible for oversight of all data collection and reporting, including reporting to the study team, to NIH sponsors, and to the DSMB. She has led or provided critical oversight to over 50 peer reviewed manuscripts and many presentations at major conferences.

As CBAR Director of Biostatistics and Programming (since 2014), Dr. Ribaudo is a member of the senior management team at CBAR and has overall responsibility for leading the development and implementation of efficient systems and work practices for CBAR biostatistics and programming staff, in compliance with relevant federal regulations and guidance, and according to current best practice scientific and industry standards. Dr. Ribaudo's training in biostatistics, excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as her vision and technical capabilities have enabled her to make major contributions to the mission of CBAR and HIV research, both as an indispensable collaborator on research teams and a dedicated mentor and leader.

Publications

• Risks for sudden cardiac and undetermined cause of death among people with HIV in the reprieve primary cardiovascular prevention trial.

  deFilippi C, Awwad A, Bloomfield GS, Weir IR, Ribaudo H, Zanni MV, Fichtenbaum CJ, Malvestutto CD, Aberg JA, Diggs MR, Chu SM, Paradis K, MacArthur RD, Pilotto J, Marks K, Van Dam C, Wilkin A, Currier JS, Zhao S, Wiviott SD, Lu MT, Douglas PS, Grinspoon S. AIDS 2025 May 23

  PMID: 40424543

• Coronary Plaque, Inflammation, Subclinical Myocardial Injury, and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in the REPRIEVE Substudy.

  Lu MT, Ribaudo HJ, McCallum S, Zanni MV, deFilippi C, Taron J, Karady J, Foldyna B, Paradis K, Chu SM, Diggs MR, Burdo TH, Currier JS, Bloomfield GS, Fichtenbaum CJ, Malvestutto CD, Aberg JA, Mayrhofer T, Douglas PS, Grinspoon SK. JACC Adv 2025 May 14

  PMID: 40373520

• Factors Affecting Risk of CVD Events in a Global CVD Prevention Cohort of People with HIV.

  Grinspoon SK, Watanabe M, Ribaudo HJ, Bloomfield GS, Fichtenbaum CJ, Umbleja T, Chu SM, Fitch KV, Diggs MR, Zhao S, Looby SE, Currier JS, Aberg JA, Malvestutto CD, Erlandson KM, Martinez E, Asupoto O, Gupta SK, Lopez-Bernaldo de Quiros JC, Nixon D, Bedimo R, Lu MT, Douglas PS, Zanni MV. Clin Infect Dis 2025 Apr 25

  PMID: 40281648

• Statin effects on the incidence of major non-cardiovascular disease events among a global cohort of people with HIV: a randomised controlled trial.

  Diggs MR, Umbleja T, McCallum S, Zanni MV, Chu SM, Fitch KV, Bloomfield GS, Currier JS, Martinez E, Castle PE, Awwad A, Jain MK, Bedimo R, Hendricks B, Narrea J, Estrada V, Pinto J, Aberg JA, Malvestutto CD, Fichtenbaum CJ, Lu MT, Ribaudo HJ, Douglas PS, Grinspoon SK. Lancet HIV 2025

  PMID: 40180472

• Cardiovascular Hazards of Abacavir- Versus Tenofovir-Containing Antiretroviral Therapies: Insights From an Analysis of the REPRIEVE Trial Cohort.

  Davies Smith E, Malvestutto C, Ribaudo HJ, Fichtenbaum CJ, Aberg JA, Watanabe M, Bloomfield GS, Currier JS, Chu SM, Fitch KV, Diggs MR, Bedimo R, Valencia J, Gomez-Ayerbe C, Brar I, Madruga JV, Lu MT, Douglas PS, Zanni MV, Grinspoon SK. Open Forum Infect Dis 2025

  PMID: 40207047