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

Adverse events during medical and surgical hospitalizations for persons with schizophrenia

Arsenic exposure and type 2 diabetes: A systematic review of the experimental and epidemiologic evidence

Blood lead below 0.48 μmol/L (10 μg/dL) and mortality among US adults

Body-mass index and mortality in Korean men and women

Confounding of the relation between homocysteine and peripheral arterial disease by lead, cadmium, and renal function

Mens sana in corpore sano

Quality of life after acute respiratory distress syndrome: A meta-analysis

Selenium and coronary heart disease: A meta-analysis

Three authors reply [2]

Vitamin-mineral supplementation and the progression of atherosclerosis: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

An editorial update: Annus horribilis for vitamin E

Arsenic exposure and cardiovascular disease: A systematic review of the epidemiologic evidence

Body mass index and incident ischemic heart disease in South Korean men and women

Direct, progressive association of cardiovascular risk factors with incident proteinuria: Results from the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation (KMIC) study

High-dosage vitamin E supplementation and all-cause mortality [1] (multiple letters)

Low toenail chromium concentration and increased risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction

Meta-analysis: High-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality

Metals in urine and peripheral arterial disease

Peripheral arterial disease and metals in urine and blood (multiple letters) [3]

Physical activity, APOE genotype, and dementia risk: Findings from the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study

Relationship of monocyte count and peripheral arterial disease: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002

The efficacy of sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Lead, cadmium, smoking, and increased risk of peripheral arterial disease.

Preoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution: A meta-analysis

Serum ferritin and risk of the metabolic syndrome in U.S. adults