Eliseo Guallar

Chair and Professor of the Department of Epidemiology

Professional overview

Dr. Guallar is an epidemiologist whose research is focused on the study of cardiovascular disease epidemiology and prevention, with an emphasis on evaluating the role of environmental and nutritional exposures in the development of cardiovascular disease. This research has made critically important and novel contributions to our understanding of risk factors for chronic disease both in the US and globally. He has published seminal articles and is a leading figure in an emerging field highlighting the risks of exposure to levels of metals previously considered safe for cardiovascular health. In addition to his work in toxic metals, Dr. Guallar has made important contributions to understanding the effects of certain micronutrients and vitamin supplements on cardiovascular disease risk and outcomes. Publications in this area were influential in changing consumer habits and attitudes towards these products. Much of this research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the American Heart Association, the CDC, and other funders.

Dr. Guallar was the founding director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology at the Samsung Medical Center and a lead investigator of the Kangbuk Samsung Cohort Study at the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital since its inception in 2010. Dr. Guallar has published over 500 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is also a Deputy Editor for Methods at the Annals of Internal Medicine and a past member and Chair of the Cancer, Heart, and Sleep Study Section at the National Institutes of Health.

Prior to teaching at NYU, Dr. Guallar was a Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and a core faculty member of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins. In the Department of Epidemiology, Dr. Guallar was the Director of the Environmental and Occupational Area of Concentration and the Co-Director of the PhD Program. Dr. Guallar was also an adjunct Professor at the Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation of the Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Science and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, in Seoul, Korea.

Education

Diploma of English, Spanish Official School of Languages at Zaragoza (Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Zaragoza), Zaragoza, Spain

MD, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

MPH, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

DrPH, Harvard University, Boston, MA

Honors and awards

Six Honor Calls in the MD Program, University of Zaragoza School of Medicine (1981)

Fellow of Spain’s Program of Training of Graduate Research of the Ministry of Education and Science, University of Zaragoza (1988)

Fulbright Scholar, sponsored by Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (1989)

Faculty Innovation Award, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (2001)

Scientist Development Award, American Heart Association (2002)

Fellow of the American Heart Association, Council on Epidemiology and Prevention (2013)

Advising, Mentoring, and Teaching Recognition Award 2014 – 2015, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (2015)

High Impact Research Icon, University of Malaya (2015)

Publications

Publications

Differential methylation of the arsenic (III) methyltransferase promoter according to arsenic exposure

Enough is enough: In response

Higher serum direct bilirubin levels were associated with a lower risk of incident chronic kidney disease in middle aged Korean men

Impact of body mass index, metabolic health and weight change on incident diabetes in a Korean population

Impact of continuity of care on mortality and health care costs: A nationwide cohort study in Korea

Impact of urine concentration adjustment method on associations between urine metals and estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) in adolescents

Is carotid intima-media thickness as predictive as other noninvasive techniques for the detection of coronary artery disease?

Metabolically-healthy obesity and coronary artery calcification

Outcomes in African Americans undergoing cardioverter-defibrillator implantation for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death: Findings from the Prospective Observational Study of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators (PROSE-ICD)

Placental transfer and concentrations of cadmium, mercury, lead, and selenium in mothers, newborns, and young children

Plasma selenium levels and oxidative stress biomarkers: A gene-environment interaction population-based study

Protein biomarkers identify patients unlikely to benefit from primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillators: Findings from the prospective observational study of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (PROSE-ICD)

Race/ethnicity, residential segregation, and exposure to ambient air pollution: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Random-effects meta-analysis of inconsistent effects: A time for change

Reply

Reply: How to determine a metabolically healthy body composition in cardiovascular disease

Spatial clustering of toxic trace elements in adolescents aroun. The Torreón, Mexico lead-zinc smelter

The association of blood pressure and primary open-angle glaucoma: A meta-analysis

The prevalence of colorectal adenomas in asymptomatic korean men and women

The QT interval is associated with incident cardiovascular events: The MESA Study

Thyroid hormone levels and incident chronic kidney disease in euthyroid individuals: The Kangbuk Samsung Health Study

Thyroid hormones and coronary artery calcification in euthyroid men and women

Thyroid hormones and mortality risk in euthyroid individuals: The Kangbuk Samsung health study

A behavioral weight-loss intervention in persons with serious mental illness

Achievement of lipoprotein goals among patients with metabolic syndrome at high cardiovascular risk across Europe. the EURIKA study