Jorge E. Chavarro

Brigham And Women's Hospital

Academic Titles

Professor, Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School Of Public Health

Professor, Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School Of Public Health

Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Research Program Affiliation

Member, Prostate Cancer

Member, Cancer Epidemiology

Research Abstract

My research focuses on investigating the role of diet and the interaction between dietary and genetic factors in the pathogenesis of diseases affecting reproductive and hormone sensitive organs, particularly malignancies of reproductive organs. This broad interest is currently focused in two areas. First, I am investigating the role of fatty acids and their metabolism in the development and progression of prostate cancer. Using data from ongoing cohort studies, I study the relationships of dietary fatty acid intakes and biomarkers of fatty acid intake and their metabolism, including de novo lipogenesis, with prostate cancer risk and survival. Also, because prostate cancer treatment often has adverse cardiovascular and metabolic consequences, I am investigating the role of modifiable lifestyle factors on non-cancer mortally, particularly cardiovascular disease, among men with prostate cancer.

In addition to my prostate cancer work, I am currently investigating how different dietary and lifestyle factors are related to male and female fertility and infertility treatment outcomes with the goal of identifying strategies for fertility preservation in cancer survivors and in the general population.