10/14/06: Optimizing Health: Fifty Years of Insights from the Framingham Heart Study

Free event at Boston University addresses the genetics of heart disease, lifetime risk of obesity, osteoporosis and other health risks

(Boston) –  A selection of researchers from the renowned Framingham Heart Study will present “Optimizing Health: Fifty Years of Insights from the Framingham Heart Study” at Boston University on Saturday, October 14, 2006. Select investigators will discuss a variety of topics including the genetics of heart disease, lifetime risk of obesity, osteoporosis as well as other health risks determined by the study. William Kannel, one of the original principle investigators, will begin the day by addressing the scope of the insights that have been gathered from this study. Below is the complete schedule of the symposium:

9:00 a.m.: Insights Provided by Framingham Study Population Research, William Kannel, MD, MPH, Keynote Speaker

10:00 a.m.: Development, Validation, and Transportability of the Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk Prediction Functions, Ralph D’Agostino, PhD

11:00 a.m.: Sound Bites: Advice for Healthy Eating Drawn from Framingham Evidence, Paula Quatromoni, DSc, MS, RD

1:30 p.m.: Nutrigenetics: How Diet and Genes Interact to Influence Heart Disease Risk, Jose Ordovas, PhD

2:30 p.m.: Estimated Risks for Developing Obesity in the Framingham Heart Study, Michael Pencina, PhD

3:30 p.m.: Osteoporosis, Bone Health, and Nutrition: Results from the Framingham Study, Marian Hannan, DSc, MPH

The Framingham Study is a collaborative effort between the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Boston University.

This event is FREE and open to the public. The symposium will take place at Boston University Sargent College Health of Rehabilitation Sciences, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA in Room 101. All attendees are encouraged to RSVP by October 12, 2006 by calling the Office of the Dean, at 617-353-2705. 

In celebration of Boston University Sargent College’s 125th anniversary, the symposium marks the eighth annual event in the Dudley Allen Sargent Distinguished Lecture series. The lecture series began in 1999 to mark the seventieth anniversary of Sargent College’s incorporation into Boston University.

Boston University (BU) Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences is an institution of higher education, research and clinical centers whose premier academic programs prepare dynamic health professionals and whose research and leadership in the health and rehabilitation sciences is actively shaping health care. BU Sargent College is the only private institution in the country offering five nationally ranked graduate programs in health and rehabilitation sciences. For more information and to learn about degree programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, communication disorders, health sciences, athletic training, nutrition, and rehabilitation counseling, visit http://www.bu.edu/sargent.