Anita L. DeStefano, Ph.D.

Anita L. DESTEFANO, Ph.D., is Professor of Biostatistics and Neurology and Graduate Affair Faculty Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion at Boston University.

She was an inaugural Associate Director of the BU Genome Science Institute and served in that position from 2008 through 2018. She is also co-PI of the BU Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics (SIBS) program, which strives to introduce a diverse group of students into the vibrant field of Biostatistics. Her main research interest is statistical genetics with a current focus on RNA sequence and whole genome sequence data in human populations. She was an investigator in the multi-national GenePD study working to identify the genes contributing Parkinson Disease. She has been an active investigator in Framingham Heart Study focusing on stroke, Alzheimer disease and related endophenotypes including brain MRI measures for 2 decades. She is a key member of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium Neurology working group and of the TOPMed Neurocognitive working group and International Genomics of Alzheimer Disease (IGAP) consortium.

She currently leads analyses within the Alzheimer Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP). Prof. DeStefano is contact PI for the multi-site NIA U01 project "Therapeutic target discovery in ADSP data via comprehensive whole-genome analysis incorporating ethnic diversity and systems approaches".