Scientific Advisory Board

Curtis Ellison, M.D., M.S.

R. Curtis Ellison, MD, MS (Epidemiology), is the Chief of the Evans Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Director of the Institute on Lifestyle & Health, and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Boston University School of Medicine.  He holds degrees from Davidson College, the Medical University of South Carolina, and Harvard School of Public Health. With training in internal medicine, cardiology, and epidemiology, Dr. Ellison serves as a senior investigator in The Framingham Study, and is the principal investigator of a number of research studies on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in determining the risk of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases and on the health effects of moderate drinking.

 Dr. Ellison is best known to the lay public for his research on what is known as the "French Paradox." This refers to the fact that the French have a high-fat diet and other risk factors, yet have very low rates of coronary heart disease.  A part of this protection against heart disease is believed to relate to the regular and moderate consumption of wine.  For his research related to alcohol and health, Dr. Ellison has received numerous awards, including the Premio Giacomo Bologna - La qualità della vita (Braida, Rocchetta Tanaro, Asti, 2002), an Oldways Honor Award (Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust, Boston, MA, 2003); and the annual award from the Desert Heart Foundation for Outstanding Research in Cardiovascular Disease (2004). 

Giancarlo Logroscino, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., M.Phil.

Dr. Logroscino is a neurologist and an epidemiologist whose research focuses on the epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease) related to aging. Dr. Logroscino has conducted both descriptive and analytic studies focusing particularly on environmental risk factors for neurodegeneration. The burden of neurodegenerative diseases is one of the major challenges for public health in the future, due to the aging of the population both in developed and developing countries.

Cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and aging in the community. The role of diet in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease is uncertain. Dr Logroscino has developed studies of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease using biological markers such as serum iron and markers of glucose metabolism. He has shown in a case-control study, with data from the Manhattan Aging Project in New York, the possible role of high intake of calories and animal fats as risk factors for Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Logroscino is currently investigating the role of sugars (refined carbohydrates) with assessment of exposure through a semiquantitative-food frequency questionnaire, on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke. In the Mediterranean area, where complex carbohydrates (mainly from legumes, pasta and bread) formerly accounted for most of the carbohydrate intake, different dietary habits in the last thirty years have increased the intake of simple carbohydrates and saturated fats. This change has lead to a wide variation of exposure that is probably specific to this geographic area. He is currently investigating (with Dr. Giovanni Misciagna-Castellana) a cohort of about 8000 subjects over 50 years of age that was established in the mid-80s in a well-defined geographic area of Southern Italy that comprises ten small towns in three Health Districts.

Aging with a Healthy brain. Human life expectency has increased dramatically in the last century and many people live beyond age 80. Progress in medical sciences and public health will likely extend the life span even more in the near future. One of the challenges of epidemiological research is to identify characteristics of healthy aging with a special interest for cognitive and motor functions. Dr Logroscino is conducting research on these isses both in the US ( in collaboration with the Division of Aging of Harvard Medical School)) and in Italy ( in collaboration with Mario Negri Institute and the IRCSS DeBellis).

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dr. Logroscino is currently co-director (with Dr. L. Serlenga-Andria) of a longitudinal study on the incidence, natural history and risk factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, named SLAP. In 1998 he developed a population-based registry for ALS and other motor neuron diseases (SLAP) for the entire region of Puglia, in South-East Italy, an area of about four million people. SLAP includes 23 neurological facilities, with complete geographical coverage that is critical for achieving the objective of complete case-ascertainment. The study is now in the eighth year. Future plans are to conduct a genetic epidemiology study of ALS as well as a case-control study of environmental risk factors of ALS. This latter effort coincides with a new initiative involving all population-based European Registries named EURALS. EURALS has a reference population of about 25 million in Scotland , Ireland, Italy, England, and France and its main goal is to study lifestyle and occupational exposures. A collaborative effort for genetic epidemiologic studies is also to be implemented. Dr Logroscino is part of the steering committee of EURALS.

Status epilepticus. Status epilepticus (SE) is a common medical condition associated with a high morbidity and mortality. No data in the literature exist on long-term mortality after an incident episode of SE. Dr. Logroscino examined (with Dr. W. A. Hauser and Dr. D. Hesdorffer at Columbia University and Dr. Cascino at Mayo Clinic), using data from the Rochester Epidemiologic Project, the long-term mortality of patients following a first episode of SE to evaluate the potential influence of SE on mortality after surviving the first thirty days. They have looked at time trends of incidence, mortality and case-fatality of SE over the last fifty years. They have described the dramatic increase of SE due to post-anoxic SE related to better survivorship after arrest after the introduction of the Intensive Care Unit in the 1960s. They are currently investigating the risk of recurrence after a first episode of SE, mortality in subjects with idiopathic SE and to causes of death in the same population. Studies have been conducted on refractory SE in clinical based series from Brigham and Women’s Hospital with Dr. Rossetti and Dr. Bromfield.

Parkinson’s disease and iron metabolism. Iron is increased in the substantia nigra of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) but it is not clear if the death of dopaminergic neurons is caused by iron accumulation. Dr Logroscino has conducted research using markers of iron metabolism within the Northern Manhattan Aging Project in New York. He has shown in case-control study a altered iron metabolism at systemic level in PD charcterized by low serum iron and ferritin levels and tranferrin saturation. He is currently exploring the same questions in the Health Professionals Follow-up study.

Dr. Logroscino is also involved in descriptive studies on idiopathic dystonias, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke that are currently conducted in Italy.

Kathy McManus, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.

Kathy McManus is Director of Nutrition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Teaching Affiliate of Harvard Medical School in Boston and a Co-Investigator on an NIH funded obesity study, POUNDS (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies) Lost.

She received her B.S. in Nutrition with honors from Simmons College, completed her Dietetic Internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital , and received her M.S. in Nutrition from Framingham State College   She became the Manager of Clinical Nutrition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as Director of Nutrition for a multidisciplinary Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Center. Ms. McManus was promoted to the Director of the Department of Nutrition at the Brigham and also serves as the Director of Nutrition and Behavioral Modification for the Program for Weight Management with the Brigham Surgical Group.

Ms. McManus has been involved with numerous research projects during her 25 years at the Brigham including Manager of the Nutrition component for the Harvard Atherosclerosis Reversibility Study, Director of the Nutrition program for the Cholesterol and Recurrent Events (CARE), a cholesterol lowering study involving 82 sites and more than 4000 patients in both Canada and the US, a group leader for the Women's Health Initiative, a co-investigator on an 18 month obesity study examining the effects of a moderate fat vs. low fat diet both controlled in energy, and her current position as Co-investigator on the POUNDS Lost Study, a multi-site obesity study examining the effects of varying macronutrients and controlling energy on 800 obese individuals over 2 years.

Ms. McManus has presented her research nationally and internationally including China, Japan, Crete, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Ms. McManus has numerous publications and book chapters including co-authoring a chapter in the 2007 addition of Cardiovascular Therapeutics. She has co-authored various lay publications including Healing Gourmet's Eat to Fight Cancer. She was a major contributor to a program that examined barriers to eating a heart healthy diet in a low income African American Community. Ms McManus is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, the Community Service Award, and the Lifetime Service Award from the American Heart Association, Massachusetts Affiliate. She has also received the American Dietetic Association’s Mary C. Zahasky Scholarship Award, and the Partner’s In Excellence Individual and Team Awards at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Ms. McManus serves on a number of leadership committees including the Brigham and Women's Hospital Women's Health Center's Medical Leadership Committee, the Diabetes Advisory Committee, and the Obesity Research Committee.  She is a member of the American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association