Jennifer Weuve, MPH, ScD
Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Epidemiology

ScD, Harvard School of Public Health
MPH, University of Minnesota
BA, Luther College

Pronouns: she/her/hers



Jennifer Weuve, MPH, ScD is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology of the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). In her research, she pursues answers to questions in two major realms of human health: (1) the forces that accelerate the aging of the brain and body, and (2) the health effects of being exposed to environmental toxicants. Underlying all of her research is a foundation in epidemiologic methods.

Dr. Weuve is a Co-Director of the international initiative, MEthods in LOngitudinal research on DEMentia (MELODEM) and PI of the NIH grant that supports it. She is also PI or co-investigator of several projects that encompass both the dementia and environmental exposure realms. For example, she is PI of two NIH-funded epidemiologic studies of air pollution and dementia risk.  The first study, the Air-Noise-Dementia Study (ANDS) examines the hypothesis that long-term exposure to air pollution and noise from the community affect brain changes that we can see on magnetic resonance images (MRI) and, ultimately, the development of dementia.  The second study is entitled “Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia: Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts Dementia” (AERONoSE).  With engagement of a multi-disciplinary team including Dr. Jayant Pinto (University of Chicago), this study evaluates olfactory pathways linking air pollution exposure to dementia risk. With other co-PIs, Dr. Weuve validated a portable XRF instrument for quantifying lead in bone and mercury and manganese in toe nail (NIEHS). Such an instrument potentially could be used in large-scale investigations into the health effects of cumulative exposures to these metals. Collectively, these projects comprise a foundation for extending inquiries in numerous informative directions, such as the role of environmental injustice in generating dementia inequities.

Dr. Weuve is a member of the editorial board of EPIDEMIOLOGY. She earned degrees in epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (MPH) and the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health (ScD), and held a post-doctoral fellowship in environmental health at the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. Prior to joining BUSPH, she was on the faculty of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

I view principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) as goals unto themselves, in addition to being essential to advancing the health of the whole public. I strongly value these principles and strive to embed them in the research questions I ask and how I conduct research, my approach to mentoring and teaching, and my engagement with institutional and professional policies and practices. My enactment of these principles is an ongoing process of learning, adapting, and growing—a process grounded in humility, particularly given that my privilege and career stage can spawn complacency. Instead, I pledge to use my privilege and career stage to create space for, support, amplify, and even lead voices and actions consistent with DEIJ. Examples of how I use or have used advocacy and allyship to promote DEIJ principles:

Research
- Co-wrote more than 15 research papers and commentaries on racial inequities in health and environmental toxicant exposures (e.g., PMID 35388413; PMID 34668951; PMID 34366109; PMC8824673; PMC5718953; PMC7994206), which included intentional partnerships with scholars in racism and social and other structural determinants of health.
- Advocate for the thoughtful use of data related to sex/gender and race/racism, encouraging collaborators and consulting clients to consider the implied questions being addressed by rote analytical practices – and to steer away from analyses that imply questions that are etiologically uninformative about or even damaging to marginalized communities that bear the greatest risks for the condition under study.
- Support early-career researchers (ECRs) pursuing research in social determinants of health, including racism.
- Participant in “Moving toward best practices for research on racial and ethnic inequalities in cognitive aging and dementia,” Advanced Psychometrics Methods Workshop, UC Davis/NIH-NIA (2022).

Mentoring/advising
- Provide formal and informal mentoring on public health research and related careers to ECRs from groups underrepresented in the research academy.
- Provide guidance on applying to epidemiology PhD programs to first-generation (broadly defined) persons and persons from other groups underrepresented in such programs.
- Inherent in these mentoring and advising roles is the exposing the "hidden curricula" of planning for graduate education and career advancement in epidemiology.

Education/teaching
- Conducted a guided assessment of the syllabus of doctoral course in epidemiology (EP855), incorporating principles of DEIJ in the syllabus and materials.
- With input from teaching assistants, students, and other sources, revised materials of two courses and guest lectures to more comprehensively reflect principles of DEIJ.
- Revised guest lecture on racial inequities in dementia to emphasize historical and structural explanations.
- Developed introductory text for all courses taught (shown in syllabi and announced in class) that establishes an environment that fosters inclusion and growth.
- Leadership team member of MELODEM, which has prioritized creating opportunities for early-career dementia scholars from groups underincluded and underrepresented in dementia research.

Service to the profession and institutions
- Ad hoc reviewer, Healthcare and Health Disparities [HHD] Study Section, National Institutes of Health (2023)
- Peer reviewer, Diversity and Disparities Lexicon, Alzheimer’s Association (2022).
- Member of the Health Equity Workgroup of the 2022 ADRD Summit, an NIH/NINDS federal advisory committee (2021-2022).
- Founder and co-chair, DEIJ Working Group of the Society for Epidemiology Research (SER; 2016), a group that became a standing committee (2019). Co-authored 3 peer-reviewed papers reporting findings from assessments of diversity and inclusion in SER (i.e., PMC7666411, PMID 31907518, PMC7670874).
- Member, Provost’s Committee on Gender Issues, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL (2010-2013).


Methods in Longitudinal Dementia (MELODEM) Initiative
08/01/2024 - 07/31/2029 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Aging
2R13AG064971-06

Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Research Program
05/15/2021 - 04/30/2026 (Subcontract PI)
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute NIH NIA
5U19AG066567-04

Data CORE D (The Harvard Aging Brain Study)
04/15/2020 - 03/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
The General Hospital Corporation d/b/a Massachusetts General Hospital NIH NIA
5P01AG036694-14

Accounting for pre-baseline selective survival in cross-national studies of the exposome in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: a novel bias assessment tool
04/10/2023 - 01/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
Regents of the University of Michigan NIH NIA
3R01AG070953-04

Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia: Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts
04/15/2020 - 01/31/2025 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R01AG067497-05

Air pollution and noise exposures in relation to dementia: from brain imaging markers to clinical disease
02/01/2020 - 01/31/2025 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R01AG065359-04

Methods in Longitudinal Dementia (MELODEM) Initiative
07/01/2019 - 07/31/2024 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R13AG064971-05

NONLINEAR MODELS OF COGNITION PRECEDING AD AND NON-AD IN A BIRACIAL POPULATION SAMPLE
09/01/2016 - 01/31/2024 (Subcontract PI)
Rush University Medical Center NIH NIA
5R01AG051635-02

The impact of airborne particles and ozone on cognition, mobility, and health care spending at older ages: Evidence from a nationally-representative longitudinal cohort
09/01/2018 - 08/31/2023 (Subcontract PI)
University of Michigan NIH NIEHS
5R01ES028694-04

Factors Influencing Decline in AD Trends in a Biracial Population Study
02/01/2021 - 06/30/2021 (Subcontract PI)
Rush University Medical Center NIH NIA
7RF1AG057532-03

Showing 10 of 16 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia: Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts 5R01AG067497-05
2024 Methods in Longitudinal Dementia (MELODEM) Initiative 2R13AG064971-06
2023 Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia: Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts 5R01AG067497-04
2023 Air pollution and noise exposures in relation to dementia: from brain imaging markers to clinical disease 5R01AG065359-04
2023 Methods in Longitudinal Dementia (MELODEM) Initiative 5R13AG064971-05
2022 Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia: Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts 5R01AG067497-03
2022 Air pollution and noise exposures in relation to dementia: from brain imaging markers to clinical disease 5R01AG065359-03
2022 Methods in Longitudinal Dementia (MELODEM) Initiative 5R13AG064971-04
2021 Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia: Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts 5R01AG067497-02
2021 Air pollution and noise exposures in relation to dementia: from brain imaging markers to clinical disease 5R01AG065359-02
Showing 10 of 22 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Patton AP, Boogaard H, Vienneau D, Brook JR, Smargiassi A, Kutlar Joss M, Szpiro AA, Sagiv SK, Samoli E, Hoffmann B, Chang HH, Atkinson RW, Weuve J, Forastiere F, Lurmann FW, Hoek G. Assessment of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution: An exposure framework. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2024 Nov 16. PMID: 39550493
     
  2. Willis MD, Mooney F, Weuve J, Hystad P, Walker H, Walker A, Stelly A, Fox S, Lees L. The Promises and Potential Pitfalls of Highway Reclamation for Population Health: A Research Framework. J Urban Health. 2024 Oct 25.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39455537; DOI: 10.1007/s11524-024-00933-0;
     
  3. Gao J, Mendes de Leon CF, Zhang B, Weuve J, Langa KM, D'Souza J, Szpiro A, Faul J, Kaufman JD, Hirth R, Adar SD. Long-term air pollution exposure and incident physical disability in older US adults: a cohort study. Lancet Healthy Longev. 2024 Oct; 5(10):100629. PMID: 39342952
     
  4. Rubenstein E, Tewolde S, Michals A, Weuve J, Fortea J, Fox MP, Pescador Jimenez M, Scott A, Tripodis Y, Skotko BG. Alzheimer Dementia Among Individuals With Down Syndrome. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Sep 03; 7(9):e2435018.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39312235; PMCID: PMC11420697; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.35018;
     
  5. Boogaard H, Atkinson RW, Brook JR, Chang HH, Hoek G, Hoffmann B, Sagiv SK, Samoli E, Smargiassi A, Szpiro AA, Vienneau D, Weuve J, Lurmann FW, Forastiere F. Response to "Comment on 'Evidence Synthesis of Observational Studies in Environmental Health: Lessons Learned from a Systematic Review on Traffic-Related Air Pollution'". Environ Health Perspect. 2024 Aug; 132(8):88002. PMID: 39136589; PMCID: PMC11321287; DOI: 10.1289/EHP15822;
     
  6. Zhang B, Mendes de Leon CF, Langa KM, Weuve J, Szpiro A, Faul J, D'Souza J, Kaufman JD, Hirth RA, Lisabeth LD, Gao J, Adar SD. Source-Specific Air Pollution and Loss of Independence in Older Adults Across the US. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Jun 03; 7(6):e2418460. PMID: 38941096; PMCID: PMC11214115; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18460;
     
  7. Schildroth S, Wesselink AK, Bethea TN, Henn BC, Friedman A, Fruh V, Coleman CM, Lovett SM, Vines AI, Sjodin A, Botelho JC, Calafat AM, Wegienka G, Weuve J, Baird DD, Wise LA. A Prospective Cohort Study of Persistent Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Perceived Stress. Am J Epidemiol. 2024 May 28.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38803157
     
  8. Boogaard H, Atkinson RW, Brook JR, Chang HH, Hoek G, Hoffmann B, Sagiv SK, Samoli E, Smargiassi A, Szpiro AA, Vienneau D, Weuve J, Lurmann FW, Forastiere F. Evidence Synthesis of Observational Studies in Environmental Health: Lessons Learned from a Systematic Review on Traffic-Related Air Pollution. Environ Health Perspect. 2023 Nov; 131(11):115002. PMID: 37991444; PMCID: PMC10664749; DOI: 10.1289/EHP11532;
     
  9. Zhang B, Weuve J, Langa KM, D'Souza J, Szpiro A, Faul J, Mendes de Leon C, Gao J, Kaufman JD, Sheppard L, Lee J, Kobayashi LC, Hirth R, Adar SD. Comparison of Particulate Air Pollution From Different Emission Sources and Incident Dementia in the US. JAMA Intern Med. 2023 Oct 01; 183(10):1080-1089. PMID: 37578757; PMCID: PMC10425875; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.3300;
     
  10. Zhang B, Langa KM, Weuve J, D'Souza J, Szpiro A, Faul J, Mendes de Leon C, Kaufman JD, Lisabeth L, Hirth RA, Adar SD. Hypertension and Stroke as Mediators of Air Pollution Exposure and Incident Dementia. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Sep 05; 6(9):e2333470. PMID: 37728927; PMCID: PMC10512106; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.33470;
     
Showing 10 of 148 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 148 publications over 23 distinct years, with a maximum of 13 publications in 2020 and 2021

YearPublications
20001
20031
20042
20052
20066
20073
20087
20097
20103
20114
20128
20134
20145
20157
20167
20178
201812
20197
202013
202113
202212
20239
20247

2019 Boston University School of Public Health: Excellence in Teaching Award: Innovation in the Classroom
2013 Epidemiology (LWW): Kenneth Rothman Epidemiology Prize (Runner-Up)
2012 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Extramural Paper of the Month
2012 Faculty of 1000: Selection of published paper
2012 Luther College: Distinguished Service Award

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
  • Co-Mentor or Peer Mentor
  • Diversity Mentor
  • Research / Scholarly Mentor
Contact for Mentoring:
  • Email (see 'Contact Info')

715 Albany St Talbot Building
Boston MA 02118
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