Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin PhD MPH

I am an epidemiologist with a focus on the etiology and prevention of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. My research focus is in four main complementary areas:

• The stability and cardiovascular risk associated with metabolically healthy obesity
• The role of body fat composition in cardiometabolic dysfunction including differences by sex and race/ethnicity
• Glucose homeostasis across the life-course with emphasis on the use of continuous glucose monitors in those without diabetes
• How women’s reproductive and pregnancy factors affect their lifetime risk for cardiometabolic disease and how to leverage pregnancy as a window of opportunity for primary prevention.

My additional research interests include epidemiological methods for observational studies. I am an investigator with Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA), Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC), the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), and the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study. I am particularly interested in applying traditional epidemiologic methods in novel ways to test essential questions in the fields of obesity and glucose control.