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

Association Between Retinopathy of Prematurity in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants and Neurodevelopmental Impairment

Associations between aflatoxin B1-albumin adduct levels with metabolic conditions in Guatemala: A cross-sectional study

Circulating bile acid concentrations and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Guatemala

Comparing the Value of Data Visualization Methods for Communicating Harms in Clinical Trials

Qureshi, R., Chen, X., Goerg, C., Mayo-Wilson, E., Dickinson, S., Golzarri-Arroyo, L., Hong, H., Phillips, R., Cornelius, V., DeMarco, M. M. A., Guallar, E., & Li, T. (n.d.).

Publication year

2022

Journal title

Epidemiologic Reviews

Volume

44

Issue

1

Page(s)

55-66

10.1093/epirev/mxac005

Abstract

Abstract

In clinical trials, harms (i.e., adverse events) are often reported by simply counting the number of people who experienced each event. Reporting only frequencies ignores other dimensions of the data that are important for stakeholders, including severity, seriousness, rate (recurrence), timing, and groups of related harms. Additionally, application of selection criteria to harms prevents most from being reported. Visualization of data could improve communication of multidimensional data. We replicated and compared the characteristics of 6 different approaches for visualizing harms: dot plot, stacked bar chart, volcano plot, heat map, treemap, and tendril plot. We considered binary events using individual participant data from a randomized trial of gabapentin for neuropathic pain. We assessed their value using a heuristic approach and a group of content experts. We produced all figures using R and share the open-source code on GitHub. Most original visualizations propose presenting individual harms (e.g., dizziness, somnolence) alone or alongside higher level (e.g., by body systems) summaries of harms, although they could be applied at either level. Visualizations can present different dimensions of all harms observed in trials. Except for the tendril plot, all other plots do not require individual participant data. The dot plot and volcano plot are favored as visualization approaches to present an overall summary of harms data. Our value assessment found the dot plot and volcano plot were favored by content experts. Using visualizations to report harms could improve communication. Trialists can use our provided code to easily implement these approaches.

Editorial: higher levels of certain serum bile acids in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease–new insights from Guatemala.Authors’ reply

Rivera-Andrade, A., Petrick, J. L., Alvarez, C. S., Graubard, B. I., Florio, A. A., Kroker-Lobos, M. F., Parisi, D., Freedman, N. D., Lazo, M., Guallar, E., Groopman, J. D., Ramirez-Zea, M., & McGlynn, K. A. (n.d.).

Publication year

2022

Journal title

Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Volume

56

Issue

2

Page(s)

361-362

10.1111/apt.17061

Efficacy of a tailored moisturizer for reducing chemotherapy-induced skin dryness in breast cancer patients: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Frequency of the PNPLA3 rs738409 polymorphism and other genetic loci for liver disease in a Guatemalan adult population

Lazo, M., Xie, J., Alvarez, C. S., Parisi, D., Yang, S., Rivera-Andrade, A., Kroker-Lobos, M. F., Groopman, J. D., Guallar, E., Ramirez-Zea, M., Arking, D. E., & McGlynn, K. A. (n.d.). In Liver International (1–).

Publication year

2022

Volume

42

Issue

6

Page(s)

1470-1474

10.1111/liv.15268

Harms in Systematic Reviews Paper 2: Methods used to assess harms are neglected in systematic reviews of gabapentin

Harms in Systematic Reviews Paper 3: Given the same data sources, systematic reviews of gabapentin have different results for harms

High low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level is associated with an increased risk of incident early-onset vasomotor symptoms

Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics and Risk of Incident Early-Onset Vasomotor Symptoms Among Premenopausal Women

Impact of nationwide hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance on the prognosis in patients with chronic liver disease

Impact of Renal Replacement Therapy on Mortality and Renal Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients with Acute Kidney Injury: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Korea between 2008 and 2015

Letter: association of circulating bile acid concentrations and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease—authors’ reply

Rivera-Andrade, A., Petrick, J. L., Alvarez, C. S., Graubard, B. I., Florio, A. A., Kroker-Lobos, M. F., Parisi, D., Freedman, N. D., Lazo, M., Guallar, E., Groopman, J. D., Ramirez-Zea, M., & McGlynn, K. A. (n.d.). In Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1–).

Publication year

2022

Volume

56

Issue

2

Page(s)

374-375

10.1111/apt.17059

Letter: is it appropriate to use a fatty liver index >60 as an alternative criterion for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? Authors’ reply

Low anti-Müllerian hormone levels are associated with an increased risk of incident early-onset vasomotor symptoms among premenopausal women

NamGoung, S. J., Chang, Y., Kim, Y., Kim, H., Cho, I. Y., Kwon, R., Lim, G. Y., Choi, H. R., Kang, J., Kim, K. H., Hong, Y. S., Zhao, D., Park, H. Y., Cho, J., Guallar, E., Kwon, M. J., & Ryu, S. (n.d.).

Publication year

2022

Journal title

Scientific reports

Volume

12

Issue

1

10.1038/s41598-022-16182-7

Abstract

Abstract

The role of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in incident vasomotor symptoms (VMS) is largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between AMH levels and the development of early-onset VMS among premenopausal women. Our cohort study comprised 2041 premenopausal women aged 42–52 years free of VMS at baseline whose AMH levels were measured. VMS, including hot flushes and night sweats, were assessed using the Korean version of the Menopause-specific Quality of Life questionnaire. Early-onset VMS was defined as the occurrence of VMS prior to menopause. Parametric proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CI. During a median follow-up of 4.4 years, 708 premenopausal women developed early-onset VMS (incidence rate, 8.0 per 100 person-years). Lower AMH levels were statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of early-onset VMS. After adjusting for age and other confounders, multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CI) for incident VMS comparing AMH quintiles 4–1 to the highest quintile were 1.02 (0.78–1.33), 1.37 (1.06–1.76), 1.36 (1.04–1.76), and 2.38 (1.84–3.08), respectively (P for trend < 0.001). Our results support an independent role of serum AMH levels in predicting incident early-onset VMS among premenopausal women in the late reproductive stage.

Metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity and risk of vasomotor symptoms in premenopausal women: cross-sectional and cohort studies

Modest alcohol intake and mortality in individuals with elevated alanine aminotransferase levels: a nationwide cohort study

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and accelerated loss of skeletal muscle mass: A longitudinal cohort study

Sinn, D. H., Kang, D., Kang, M., Guallar, E., Hong, Y. S., Lee, K. H., Park, J., Cho, J., & Gwak, G. Y. (n.d.).

Publication year

2022

Journal title

Hepatology

Volume

76

Issue

6

Page(s)

1746-1754

10.1002/hep.32578

Abstract

Abstract

Background and Aims: Whether subjects with NAFLD are at increased risk of sarcopenia is not well established. Approach and Results: This is a cohort study of 52,815 men and women of 20 years of age or older who underwent at least two health check-up exams with bioelectrical impedance analysis and abdominal ultrasound imaging. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to calculate appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM). NAFLD was assessed by ultrasonography, and its severity was assessed by the NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS). We estimated the 5-year change in ASM comparing participants with and without NAFLD at baseline using mixed linear models. The 5-year change in ASM in participants without and with NAFLD was −225.2 g (95% CI −232.3, −218.0) and −281.3 g (95% CI −292.0, −270.6), respectively (p < 0.001). In multivariable adjusted analysis, the difference in 5-year change in ASM comparing participants with and without NAFLD was −39.9 g (95% CI −53.1, −26.8). When participants with NAFLD were further divided by NAFLD severity, ASM loss was much faster in participants with NAFLD with intermediate to high NFS than in those with low NFS. Conclusions: Participants with NAFLD were at increased risk of sarcopenia, indicated by faster loss of skeletal muscle mass. Patients with NAFLD may need screening and early intervention to mitigate skeletal muscle mass loss.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Risk of Early-Onset Vasomotor Symptoms in Lean and Overweight Premenopausal Women

Outcomes and Revenue Generation of a Community-based Screening at a Center in the United States: The SToP Glaucoma Program

Oxidative Stress and Menopausal Status: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Cohort Study

Quantifying Individual-Level Inaccuracy in Glomerular Filtration Rate Estimation A Cross-Sectional Study

Reclassifying the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Residual Tumor Classification According to the Extent of Nodal Dissection for NSCLC: One Size Does Not Fit All

Reply

Sinn, D. H., Kang, D., Guallar, E., Cho, J., & Gwak, G. Y. (n.d.). In Hepatology (1–).

Publication year

2022

Volume

76

Issue

6

Page(s)

E121-E122

10.1002/hep.32678