Edward Ruiz-Narvaez, Sc.D., M.S.
(He/him/his)
Biography
Dr. Ruiz-Narvaez is an Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Ruiz-Narvaez earned his ScD in Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and his MSc in Human Genetics at the University of Costa Rica. Dr. Ruiz-Narvaez is co-investigator of the Black Women’s Health Study, an ongoing prospective cohort of 59,000 African American women from across the United States. Dr. Ruiz-Narvaez is particularly interested in the genetic basis of different diseases/phenotypes such as breast cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, with a particular emphasis in African American women. A major goal of Dr. Ruiz-Narvaez’s research is the elucidation of social and genetic factors that may help to explain the higher burden of disease in minority populations. He is also co-investigator in the Costa Rica Longevity and Health Aging Study (CRELES), a population-based study of life-course experiences of older Costa Ricans. He is currently researching selective forces that may explain the observed extended longevity in the Costa Rican population.
Dr. Ruiz-Narvaez is member of the Costa Rican National Academy of Sciences. He has been Principal Investigator and co-Investigator of several NIH and American Heart Association grants.
Research
Major focus of my research is the elucidation of the interplay of social and genetic factors that may explain the high burden of disease on minority populations. As co-investigator in the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS) – an ongoing prospective cohort study of 59,000 African American women from across the United States – I have led research on the identification of the genetic basis of low birth weight, obesity, and type 2 diabetes in African American women. I am also working on how chronic exposure to psychosocial stress may lead to epigenomics alterations resulting on adverse cardiometabolic outcomes.
I am also interested on examining the multifactorial basis of extended longevity in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a middle-income country with a life expectancy of a high-income country, even outperforming to the U.S. The Nicoya region in particular, in the Pacific Northwest of Costa Rica, has been recognized as one of five locations in the world (Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Loma Linda in California U.S., Nicoya in Costa Rica, and Ikaria in Greece) with exceptional longevity. As co-investigator in the Costa Rica Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES), I am examining the interplay of social, behavioral and genetic factors behind the observed extended longevity in Costa Rica.
