Nathan D. Wong

I have served as a funded investigator and/or continue to collaborate and publish with collaborative groups nationwide, including the NIH-sponsored Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, Cardiovascular Health Study, the Women’s Health Initiative, and the Antihypertensive Lipid-Lowering to Prevent Heart Attack Trial. For MESA and CARDIA, I was involved with co-directing the CT reading center; these studies involve examining coronary calcium and other measures of subclinical atherosclerosis in relation to other cardiovascular risk factors and clinical events. My key publications have been in the areas of epidemiology and prognostic aspects of subclinical atherosclerosis, particularly involving coronary calcium and more recently other vascular calcification. I also have an interest in and have published in the area of cardiovascular risk assessment of persons with metabolic syndrome. I also work closely with, collaborate on publications, and provide guidance to two physician colleagues within my program, Stanley S. Franklin, MD, in the area of epidemiology of hypertension (with the Framingham Heart Study) and Hwa Mu Lee, MD in the area of pulmonary aspects of cardiovascular epidemiology, as well as with Shaista Malik, MD, PhD, who is medical director of the preventive cardiology program at the UCIMC cardiovascular center who I have mentored since she was a cardiology fellow. 

Dr. Wong is Professor and Director of the Heart Disease Prevention Program, Division of Cardiology at University of California, Irvine, and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and UCLA and UC Irvine and in Radiology at UC Irvine. He is also the immediate past-president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (president 2010-2012) and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. Dr. Wong holds PhD and MPH degrees in epidemiology from Yale University, is a cardiovascular epidemiologist and specialist in preventive cardiology, and has authored or coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease, including his research areas of subclinical atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. He has been a collaborator or investigator with the Framingham Heart Study, Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular Health Study, Women’s Health Initiative and other prospective studies and trials. He also recently co-edited the first edition of Preventive Cardiology, a Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease, and previously edited or co-edited three other textbooks. He is also on the editorial board of several cardiology journals, has lectured internationally on his research and various topics in preventive cardiology, and is a member of Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Recently, Dr. Wong was the 2011 recipient of the Jan Kellermann Memorial Award for distinguished contribution in the field of cardiovascular disease prevention.

Education

  • PhD, Epidemiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
  • MPH, Epidemiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
  • BA, Biochemistry, Pomona College, Claremont, CA

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Areas of Interest

My research has been in cardiovascular epidemiology and prevention, with an emphasis on 1) noninvasive evaluation of atherosclerosis risk/ subclinical disease and 2) epidemiology and risk assessment of dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes/metabolic syndrome. 

Selected Publications

  • Detrano R, Guerci AD, Carr JJ, Bild DE, Burke G, Folsom AR, Liu K, Shea S, Szklo M, Bluemke DA, O’Leary DH, Tracy R, Watson K, Wong ND, Kronmal RA.  Coronary calcium as a predictor of coronary events in four racial or ethnic groups.  N Engl J Med 2008; 358: 1336-45.
  • Wong ND, Gransar H, Shaw L, Polk D, Moon JH, Miranda-Peats R, Hayes SW, Thomson LEJ, Rozanski A, Friedman JD, Berman DS.  Thoracic aortic calcium versus coronary artery calcium for the prediction of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease events.  JACC Cardiovascular Imaging 2009; 2: 319-26.
  • Lee HW, Chung SJ, Lopez VA, Wong ND.  Association of Forced Vital Capacity and Total Mortality in U.S. Adults with Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes.   Chest 2009;  136(1):171-6.
  • Wong ND, Gransar H, Narula J, Shaw L, Moon JH, Miranda-Peats R, Rozanski A, Hayes SW, Thomson LEJ, Friedman JD, Berman DS.  Myeloperoxidase, subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease events.   JACC Cardiovascular Imaging 2009; 2: 1093-9.
  • Wong ND, Lopez VA, Allison M, Detrano RC, Blumenthal RS, Folsom AR, Ouyang P, Criqui MH.  Abdominal aortic calcium and multi-site atherosclerosis: the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.   Atherosclerosis 2011; 214: 436-41.
  • Malik S, Budoff MJ, Katz R, Blumenthal RS, Bertoni AG, Nasir K, Szklo M, Barr RG, Wong ND.  Impact of subclinical atherosclerosis on cardiovascular disease events in persons with metabolic syndrome and diabetes: the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.   Diabetes Care 2011; 34: 2285-90.
  • Wong ND, Dede J, Chow VH, Wong KS, Franklin SS.  Global Cardiovascular Risk Associated with Hypertension and Extent of Treatment and Control According to Risk Group.    Am J Hypertens 2012; 25: 561-7.
  • Wong ND, Glovaci D, Wong K, Malik S, Franklin SS, Wygant G, Iloeje U.   Global Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment in United States Adults with Diabetes.   Diab Vas Disease Res 2012; 9: 146-152.
  • Wong ND, Nelson JC, Granston T, Bertoni AG, Blumenthal RS, Carr JJ, Guerci A, Jacobs DR, Kronamal R, Liu K, Saad M, Selvin E, Tracy R, Detrano R.  Metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and incidence and progression of coronary calcium: the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).  J Am Coll Cardiovasc Img 2012; 5: 358-66.
  • Lee HM, Lee J, Lee K, Luo Y, Sin DD, Wong ND.  Relation between COPD severity and global cardiovascular risk in US adults.  Chest 2012; April 19 (epub ahead of print).
  • Hoffman Eric A, Jiang Rui, Baumhauer Heather, Brooks Michael A, Carr J Jeffrey, Detrano Robert, Reinhardt Joseph, Rodriguez Josanna, Stukovsky Karen, Wong Nathan D, Barr R Graham Reproducibility and validity of lung density measures from cardiac CT Scans--The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Lung Study.. Academic radiology. 2009; 16(6): 689-99.
  • Kesarwani Manoj, Perez Alejandro, Lopez Victor A, Wong Nathan D, Franklin Stanley S Cardiovascular comorbidities and blood pressure control in stroke survivors.. Journal of hypertension. 2009; 27(5): 1056-63.
  • Katz Ronit, Budoff Matthew J, Takasu Junichiro, Shavelle David M, Bertoni Alain, Blumenthal Roger S, Ouyang Pamela, Wong Nathan D, O'Brien Kevin D Relationship of metabolic syndrome with incident aortic valve calcium and aortic valve calcium progression: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).. Diabetes. 2009; 58(4): 813-9.
  • Allen Ryan W, Criqui Michael H, Diez Roux Ana V, Allison Matthew, Shea Steven, Detrano Robert, Sheppard Lianne, Wong Nathan D, Stukovsky Karen Hinckley, Kaufman Joel D Fine particulate matter air pollution, proximity to traffic, and aortic atherosclerosis.. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.). 2009; 20(2): 254-64.
  • Budoff Matthew Jay, McClelland Robyn L, Chung Hyoju, Wong Nathan D, Carr J Jeffrey, Gray Michael McNitt, Blumenthal Roger S, Detrano Robert C Reproducibility of coronary artery calcified plaque with cardiac 64-MDCT: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.. AJR. American journal of roentgenology. 2009; 192(3): 613-7.