Josiemer Mattei, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Department of Nutrition
Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Dr. Mattei is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She obtained a BS in Microbiology from University of Puerto Rico, and an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Tufts University. She investigates genetic, dietary, and psychosocial determinants of cardiometabolic diseases and physiological stress (allostatic load) in racial and ethnic groups, particularly Latinos in the U.S. and Latin America, as a framework to explain health disparities. She also works in creating community and population-based health promotion programs for Latinos. Her multiple pilot funding awards, and a K01 Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity from the NIH-National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, support Dr. Mattei in pursuing two major lines of research: (1) evaluating the relationship between sociocultural factors and diet quality, and how the traditional Latino diets relate to cardio-metabolic outcomes using population-based studies of diverse Latino ethnicities in the US and Puerto Rico (the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, the Costa Rican Myocardial Infarction Study, and the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study on Latinos, among others); and (2) developing culturally-tailored dietary interventions and nutritional programs to improve consumption of high-quality traditional foods as a strategy for diabetes and obesity prevention in Puerto Rico and among Latinos living in Boston. Her work extends to several Latin American countries through a global collaborative initiative. Dr. Mattei works diligently towards the inclusion and advancement of under-represented groups in epidemiologic and community studies, of minority students in public health education, and of women and minorities in science and academia.