Massachusetts General Hospital

Biography

Robert E. Gerszten, MD, is director of Clinical and Translational Research for the MGH Heart Center. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School and a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute. Dr. Gerszten graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, did his residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and his clinical fellowship in Cardiology at MGH. He performed research fellowships at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF, and the Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC), MGH. Over the past decade the Gerszten laboratory has built a nationally recognized program in translational research, integrating emerging metabolomic and proteomic approaches towards the identification of novel disease pathways and biomarkers. He is currently the lead PI of an NHLBI Proteomics Center and an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. Within the MGH, he plays a leadership role on the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR). Dr. Gerszten is an active clinician and serves as a mentor to many of our junior staff.

Research

Dr. Gerszten's clinical interests span the spectrum of general adult consultative cardiology. As Director of Clinical and Translational Research for the MGH Heart Center, he has a particular interest in the application of emerging genomic technologies for early disease prediction and diagnosis, towards the ultimate goal of personalized medicine.

Publications

TJ, La Wang, TJ, Larson MG, Vasan RS, Cheng S, Rhee EP, McCabe E, Lewis GD, Fox CS, Jacques PF, Fernandez C, O'Donnell CJ, Carr SA, Mootha VK, Florez JC, Souza A, Melander O, Clish CB, Gerszten RE. Metabolite profiles and the risk of developing diabetes. Nature Medicine. 2011 Mar 20. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:21423183

Lewis GD, Farrell L, Wood MJ, Martinovic M, Arany Z, Rowe GC, Souza A, Cheng S, McCabe EL, Yang E, Shi X, Deo R, Roth FP, Asnani A, Rhee EP, Systrom DM, Semigran MJ, Vasan RS, Carr SA, Wang TJ, Sabatine MS, Clish CB, Gerszten RE. Metabolic signatures of exercise in human plasma. Science Translational Medicine 2010 May 26;2(33):33ra37.PMID: 20505214

Advanced blood analysis may speed diagnosis of heart attacks

Study of 'planned' heart attacks identifies markers that could improve treatment, save lives.

2013 MGH Research Scholars

ESTABLISHED IN 2011 by ECOR and the MGH Research Advisory Council, the MGH Research Scholars program provides five years of unrestricted funding to give innovative investigators the flexibility to pursue projects that may lead in unexpected directions. Supported by philanthropic gifts, the program expanded from the first group of five recipients to eight scholars in 2012.

Detailed metabolic profile gives "chemical snapshot" of the effects of exercise

Using a system that analyzes blood samples with unprecedented detail, a team led by MGH researchers has developed the first "chemical snapshot" of the metabolic effects of exercise.

Metabolite levels may be able to improve diabetes risk prediction

Measuring the levels of small molecules in the blood may be able to identify individuals at elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes as much as a decade before symptoms of the disorder appear.