Paul M. Ridker

General / Preventive / Lipids

Brigham and Women's Hospital

About

Paul M. Ridker works in General / Preventive / Lipids affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Paul M. Ridker, MD, MPH is the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is also Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research addresses the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis, including development of hsCRP testing and leadership of trials such as JUPITER and CANTOS.

Research focus

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and inflammatory biomarkersResidual inflammatory risk in atherosclerosisStatin therapy for primary preventionInterleukin-1 inhibition and anti-cytokine therapies for atherosclerotic diseaseCardiovascular epidemiology and risk prediction

Impact

1,409 pubs · 222,853 cites · h-index 217

Training

MPH
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
1992
MD
Harvard Medical School
1986
BS
Brown University
1981

Affiliations

Work Experience

Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women's Hospital · 2003 - Present

Professor in the Department of Epidemiology

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health · 2003 - Present

Cardiology Fellow

Brigham and Women's Hospital · 1989 - 1992

Internal Medicine Resident

Brigham and Women's Hospital · 1986 - 1989

Publications

Paul M. Ridker

Preventive cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital · Brigham and Women's Hospital

What is less often discussed is how slow translation to practice can be even when human evidence marks the starting point for discovery. The effectiveness of statin therapy among the “SMuRFLEss but Inflamed” (individuals without SMuRFs [standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors] yet who are at high vascular risk due to silent inflammation) provides a case study of the complexity involved in translational science derived from human data.

Statins for the “SMuRFLess But Inflamed”

JACC Basic to Translational ScienceRidkerJul 2025

Original ResearchCirculation Highlight

OCT 2023RidkerCirculation

The Time to Initiate Anti-Inflammatory Therapy for Patients With Chronic Coronary Atherosclerosis Has Arrived

Oct 2023

EditorialCirculation Highlight

RidkerCirculation

The Time to Initiate Anti-Inflammatory Therapy for Patients With Chronic Coronary Atherosclerosis Has Arrived

Paul Ridker

Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Brigham and Women's Hospital · Brigham and Women's Hospital

the primary use of CRP should be at the time of cholesterol screening . . . as an adjunct of global risk assessment.

C-Reactive Protein

CirculationRidkerSep 2003

cohort · n=74,897

AUG 2025HallerJournal of the American College of Cardiology

High heart failure polygenic risk score linked to ~5-fold higher rate of new-onset HF.

HF polygenic risk score was associated with incident heart failure; leaves open whether it improves clinical risk stratification or prevention.

PDF

Aug 2025Open Access

Level 3: Cohort Study

HallerJournal of the American College of Cardiology

High heart failure polygenic risk score linked to ~5-fold higher rate of new-onset HF.

Implication

HF polygenic risk score was associated with incident heart failure; leaves open whether it improves clinical risk stratification or prevention.

PDF

Paul M. Ridker

Cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard · Brigham and Women's Hospital

12d

In contrast to the use of low-dose colchicine in chronic atherosclerosis, its use in the setting of acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina remains uncertain, justifying a more limited Class 2B recommendation in the new American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for acute coronary syndromes.

Colchicine for Cardiovascular Disease

Journal of the American College of CardiologyRidkerJun 2025

Nathan O. Stitziel

Cardiologist and human geneticist, Washington University in St. Louis · Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

12d

We need more research to confirm these results. Regardless, we can at least say that patients with a high genetic-risk score appear to benefit more from statin therapy because they're starting at a higher baseline risk, even controlling for all the clinical measures we routinely examine.

Genetic risk, coronary heart disease events, and the clinical benefit of statin therapy: an analysis of primary and secondary prevention trials

The LancetMega et al.Mar 2015

Original Research

AUG 1HellinghusAtherosclerosis

A Quantitative Model to Estimate Free Il-6 Levels Among Participants Treated With the Il-6 Ligand Inhibitor Ziltivekimab: Implications for the Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis Trials

13w ago

HellinghusAtherosclerosis

A Quantitative Model to Estimate Free Il-6 Levels Among Participants Treated With the Il-6 Ligand Inhibitor Ziltivekimab: Implications for the Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis Trials

Original Research

AUG 1RayAtherosclerosis

Oral Nlrp3 Inhibitor Ruvonoflast Provides Rapid, Robust and Reversible Inflammation Reduction in People With Residual Inflammatory Risk of Ascvd

13w ago

RayAtherosclerosis

Oral Nlrp3 Inhibitor Ruvonoflast Provides Rapid, Robust and Reversible Inflammation Reduction in People With Residual Inflammatory Risk of Ascvd

Original Research

AUG 1AhmadAtherosclerosis

Meat Intake, Metabolic Variation, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Women

13w ago

AhmadAtherosclerosis

Meat Intake, Metabolic Variation, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Women

Paul M Ridker

Cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard · Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

11d

Although we believe this expanded indication for statin therapy to be a move in the right direction, it should be noted that this regulatory recommendation was not made on the basis of the trial's prespecified primary endpoint, did not take into account the enrolment criterion in JUPITER that required all participants to have an hsCRP of 2 mg/L or greater, which augmented absolute risk, and does not address most of the patients actually studied.

Reduction in C-reactive protein and LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular event rates after initiation of rosuvastatin: a prospective study of the JUPITER trial

The LancetRidker et al.Mar 2009

Paul M. Ridker

Preventive cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Virtually all patients with or at risk for atherosclerotic disease are appropriately treated with aggressive statin therapy. Yet, in our study of patients already taking a statin, hsCRP — a measure of residual inflammatory risk — was a more powerful determinant of having a future heart attack or dying from cardiovascular disease than was LDL-cholesterol — a measure of residual cholesterol risk. The data are a powerful demonstration that to beat heart disease, we need to lower both cholesterol and inflammation, not just cholesterol alone.

Inflammation and cholesterol as predictors of cardiovascular events among patients receiving statin therapy: a collaborative analysis of three randomised trials

The LancetRidker et al.Mar 2023

Paul Ridker

Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Brigham and Women's Hospital · Brigham and Women's Hospital

When we designed the main trial, we knew we were going after atherosclerosis and we knew we were going after cancer.

Anti-Inflammatory Therapy With Canakinumab for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes

Journal of the American College of CardiologyDonath et al.Mar 2018

Original ResearchCirculation Highlight

AUG 2006AlbertCirculation

C-Reactive Protein as a Risk Predictor

Aug 2006

Circulation Highlight

AlbertCirculation

C-Reactive Protein as a Risk Predictor

reviewJACC Highlight

APR 2006TsimikasJournal of the American College of Cardiology

hsCRP and emerging plasma biomarkers improve CVD diagnosis, risk stratification, and prognosis.

Emerging plasma biomarkers, specifically hs-CRP, have significant diagnostic and prognostic potential to improve vascular risk prediction and guide statin therapy in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Apr 2006Open Access

JACC Highlight

Level 5: Literature Review

TsimikasJournal of the American College of Cardiology

hsCRP and emerging plasma biomarkers improve CVD diagnosis, risk stratification, and prognosis.

Implication

Original Research

OCT 10ParkJournal of the American Heart Association

Anthocyanin and Blueberry Intake, Lipids, C‐Reactive Protein, and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women

Background Anthocyanins and anthocyanin‐rich berries have demonstrated lipid‐lowering and anti‐inflammatory effects; however, associations with cardiovascular disease remain mixed. We therefore examined anthocyanin and blueberry intake for prospective associations with cardiovascular disease risk and cross‐sectional associations with lipids and hs‐CRP (high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein) in the WHS (Women's Health Study). Methods Among 38 088 women who completed a baseline semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire in 1992 to 1995, we estimated intake of total anthocyanins, 6 anthocyanin subclasses, and blueberries. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated for confirmed major adverse cardiovascular events, including nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, and cardiovascular disease death. In a subset of 26 912 women with baseline blood samples, multivariable odds ratios were calculated for adverse lipid and hs‐CRP levels. Results During a median 28.0‐year follow‐up, 2752 major adverse cardiovascular event cases occurred. Age‐, energy‐, and WHS treatment–adjusted HRs across quintiles of total anthocyanin intake were 1.00 (reference), 0.87 (95% CI, 0.78–0.98), 0.79 (95% CI, 0.70–0.89), 0.81 (95% CI, 0.72–0.91), and 0.88 (95% CI, 0.79–0.99) ( P ‐trend=0.23). Further adjustment for clinical, lifestyle, and dietary factors showed no significant associations with major adverse cardiovascular events or their components, with similar null findings observed for anthocyanin subclasses and blueberries. In cross‐sectional analyses, higher total anthocyanins and anthocyanin subclasses, except pelargonidin, were significantly associated with lower multivariable‐adjusted odds of adverse high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides (all other P ‐trend<0.05). Conclusions In the WHS, anthocyanin and blueberry intake were not significantly associated with cardiovascular disease risk. However, higher anthocyanin intake was cross‐sectionally associated with lower odds of adverse high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides.

3w agoOpen Access

ParkJournal of the American Heart Association

Anthocyanin and Blueberry Intake, Lipids, C‐Reactive Protein, and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women

editorialEuropean Heart Journal Highlight

AUG 2024LiuzzoEuropean Heart Journal

Universal screening for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in patients with atherosclerotic disease represents a major therapeutic opportunity.

The authors discuss the therapeutic opportunity of universal screening for hsCRP in patients with atherosclerotic disease.

Aug 2024Open Access

European Heart Journal Highlight

Level 5: Editorial

LiuzzoEuropean Heart Journal

Universal screening for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in patients with atherosclerotic disease represents a major therapeutic opportunity.

Implication

The authors discuss the therapeutic opportunity of universal screening for hsCRP in patients with atherosclerotic disease.

editorialEuropean Heart Journal Highlight

JUL 2025KraaijenhofEuropean Heart Journal

Early screening for LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lipoprotein(a) enhances long-term cardiovascular risk prediction in primary prevention, despite methodological critiques regarding estimation methods.

Early measurement of biomarkers including LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lp(a) can enhance cardiovascular risk prediction and motivate early lifestyle interventions in primary prevention.

Jul 2025Open Access

European Heart Journal Highlight

Level 5: Editorial

KraaijenhofEuropean Heart Journal

Early screening for LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lipoprotein(a) enhances long-term cardiovascular risk prediction in primary prevention, despite methodological critiques regarding estimation methods.

Implication

Early measurement of biomarkers including LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lp(a) can enhance cardiovascular risk prediction and motivate early lifestyle interventions in primary prevention.

Original ResearchEuropean Heart Journal Highlight

SEP 4AdamsteinEuropean Heart Journal

When the exposure causes selection bias: understanding why risk factors attenuate in secondary as compared with primary prevention and what to do about it

8w ago

European Heart Journal Highlight

AdamsteinEuropean Heart Journal

When the exposure causes selection bias: understanding why risk factors attenuate in secondary as compared with primary prevention and what to do about it

Original ResearchACC Journal Scan Highlight

AUG 1FarahJACC Advances

Genetic Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among People With No Standard Modifiable Risk Factors

13w agoOpen Access

ACC Journal Scan Highlight

FarahJACC Advances

Genetic Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among People With No Standard Modifiable Risk Factors

Paul Ridker

Director, Center for CV Prevention, Brigham and Women's · Brigham and Women's Hospital

This dose-finding data will also inform the design of a hard outcomes trial to test the hypothesis that IL-6-lowering will reduce cardiovascular event rates in patients with chronic kidney disease, which is based upon an observation in an 1800 patient CKD subset of the CANTOS trial.

Inhibition of Interleukin-1β by Canakinumab and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Journal of the American College of CardiologyRidker et al.May 2018

All publications →

About

Paul M. Ridker works in General / Preventive / Lipids affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Research focus

Impact

1,409 pubs · 222,853 cites · h-index 217

Training

MPH
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
1992
MD
Harvard Medical School
1986
BS
Brown University
1981

Work Experience

Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women's Hospital · 2003 - Present

Professor in the Department of Epidemiology

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health · 2003 - Present

Cardiology Fellow

Brigham and Women's Hospital · 1989 - 1992

Internal Medicine Resident

Brigham and Women's Hospital · 1986 - 1989

Publications

Paul M. Ridker

Preventive cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital · Brigham and Women's Hospital

What is less often discussed is how slow translation to practice can be even when human evidence marks the starting point for discovery. The effectiveness of statin therapy among the “SMuRFLEss but Inflamed” (individuals without SMuRFs [standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors] yet who are at high vascular risk due to silent inflammation) provides a case study of the complexity involved in translational science derived from human data.

Statins for the “SMuRFLess But Inflamed”

JACC Basic to Translational ScienceRidkerJul 2025

Original ResearchCirculation Highlight

OCT 2023RidkerCirculation

The Time to Initiate Anti-Inflammatory Therapy for Patients With Chronic Coronary Atherosclerosis Has Arrived

Oct 2023

EditorialCirculation Highlight

RidkerCirculation

The Time to Initiate Anti-Inflammatory Therapy for Patients With Chronic Coronary Atherosclerosis Has Arrived

Paul Ridker

Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Brigham and Women's Hospital · Brigham and Women's Hospital

the primary use of CRP should be at the time of cholesterol screening . . . as an adjunct of global risk assessment.

C-Reactive Protein

CirculationRidkerSep 2003

cohort · n=74,897

AUG 2025HallerJournal of the American College of Cardiology

High heart failure polygenic risk score linked to ~5-fold higher rate of new-onset HF.

HF polygenic risk score was associated with incident heart failure; leaves open whether it improves clinical risk stratification or prevention.

PDF

Aug 2025Open Access

Level 3: Cohort Study

HallerJournal of the American College of Cardiology

High heart failure polygenic risk score linked to ~5-fold higher rate of new-onset HF.

Implication

HF polygenic risk score was associated with incident heart failure; leaves open whether it improves clinical risk stratification or prevention.

PDF

Paul M. Ridker

Cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard · Brigham and Women's Hospital

12d

In contrast to the use of low-dose colchicine in chronic atherosclerosis, its use in the setting of acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina remains uncertain, justifying a more limited Class 2B recommendation in the new American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for acute coronary syndromes.

Colchicine for Cardiovascular Disease

Journal of the American College of CardiologyRidkerJun 2025

Nathan O. Stitziel

Cardiologist and human geneticist, Washington University in St. Louis · Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

12d

We need more research to confirm these results. Regardless, we can at least say that patients with a high genetic-risk score appear to benefit more from statin therapy because they're starting at a higher baseline risk, even controlling for all the clinical measures we routinely examine.

Genetic risk, coronary heart disease events, and the clinical benefit of statin therapy: an analysis of primary and secondary prevention trials

The LancetMega et al.Mar 2015

Original Research

AUG 1HellinghusAtherosclerosis

A Quantitative Model to Estimate Free Il-6 Levels Among Participants Treated With the Il-6 Ligand Inhibitor Ziltivekimab: Implications for the Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis Trials

13w ago

HellinghusAtherosclerosis

A Quantitative Model to Estimate Free Il-6 Levels Among Participants Treated With the Il-6 Ligand Inhibitor Ziltivekimab: Implications for the Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis Trials

Original Research

AUG 1RayAtherosclerosis

Oral Nlrp3 Inhibitor Ruvonoflast Provides Rapid, Robust and Reversible Inflammation Reduction in People With Residual Inflammatory Risk of Ascvd

13w ago

RayAtherosclerosis

Oral Nlrp3 Inhibitor Ruvonoflast Provides Rapid, Robust and Reversible Inflammation Reduction in People With Residual Inflammatory Risk of Ascvd

Original Research

AUG 1AhmadAtherosclerosis

Meat Intake, Metabolic Variation, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Women

13w ago

AhmadAtherosclerosis

Meat Intake, Metabolic Variation, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Women

Paul M Ridker

Cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard · Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

11d

Although we believe this expanded indication for statin therapy to be a move in the right direction, it should be noted that this regulatory recommendation was not made on the basis of the trial's prespecified primary endpoint, did not take into account the enrolment criterion in JUPITER that required all participants to have an hsCRP of 2 mg/L or greater, which augmented absolute risk, and does not address most of the patients actually studied.

Reduction in C-reactive protein and LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular event rates after initiation of rosuvastatin: a prospective study of the JUPITER trial

The LancetRidker et al.Mar 2009

Paul M. Ridker

Preventive cardiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Virtually all patients with or at risk for atherosclerotic disease are appropriately treated with aggressive statin therapy. Yet, in our study of patients already taking a statin, hsCRP — a measure of residual inflammatory risk — was a more powerful determinant of having a future heart attack or dying from cardiovascular disease than was LDL-cholesterol — a measure of residual cholesterol risk. The data are a powerful demonstration that to beat heart disease, we need to lower both cholesterol and inflammation, not just cholesterol alone.

Inflammation and cholesterol as predictors of cardiovascular events among patients receiving statin therapy: a collaborative analysis of three randomised trials

The LancetRidker et al.Mar 2023

Paul Ridker

Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Brigham and Women's Hospital · Brigham and Women's Hospital

When we designed the main trial, we knew we were going after atherosclerosis and we knew we were going after cancer.

Anti-Inflammatory Therapy With Canakinumab for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes

Journal of the American College of CardiologyDonath et al.Mar 2018

Original ResearchCirculation Highlight

AUG 2006AlbertCirculation

C-Reactive Protein as a Risk Predictor

Aug 2006

Circulation Highlight

AlbertCirculation

C-Reactive Protein as a Risk Predictor

reviewJACC Highlight

APR 2006TsimikasJournal of the American College of Cardiology

hsCRP and emerging plasma biomarkers improve CVD diagnosis, risk stratification, and prognosis.

Apr 2006Open Access

JACC Highlight

Level 5: Literature Review

TsimikasJournal of the American College of Cardiology

hsCRP and emerging plasma biomarkers improve CVD diagnosis, risk stratification, and prognosis.

Implication

Original Research

OCT 10ParkJournal of the American Heart Association

Anthocyanin and Blueberry Intake, Lipids, C‐Reactive Protein, and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women

3w agoOpen Access

ParkJournal of the American Heart Association

Anthocyanin and Blueberry Intake, Lipids, C‐Reactive Protein, and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women

editorialEuropean Heart Journal Highlight

AUG 2024LiuzzoEuropean Heart Journal

Universal screening for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in patients with atherosclerotic disease represents a major therapeutic opportunity.

The authors discuss the therapeutic opportunity of universal screening for hsCRP in patients with atherosclerotic disease.

Aug 2024Open Access

European Heart Journal Highlight

Level 5: Editorial

LiuzzoEuropean Heart Journal

Universal screening for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in patients with atherosclerotic disease represents a major therapeutic opportunity.

Implication

The authors discuss the therapeutic opportunity of universal screening for hsCRP in patients with atherosclerotic disease.

editorialEuropean Heart Journal Highlight

JUL 2025KraaijenhofEuropean Heart Journal

Early screening for LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lipoprotein(a) enhances long-term cardiovascular risk prediction in primary prevention, despite methodological critiques regarding estimation methods.

Early measurement of biomarkers including LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lp(a) can enhance cardiovascular risk prediction and motivate early lifestyle interventions in primary prevention.

Jul 2025Open Access

European Heart Journal Highlight

Level 5: Editorial

KraaijenhofEuropean Heart Journal

Early screening for LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lipoprotein(a) enhances long-term cardiovascular risk prediction in primary prevention, despite methodological critiques regarding estimation methods.

Implication

Early measurement of biomarkers including LDL cholesterol, hsCRP, and Lp(a) can enhance cardiovascular risk prediction and motivate early lifestyle interventions in primary prevention.

Original ResearchEuropean Heart Journal Highlight

SEP 4AdamsteinEuropean Heart Journal

When the exposure causes selection bias: understanding why risk factors attenuate in secondary as compared with primary prevention and what to do about it

8w ago

European Heart Journal Highlight

AdamsteinEuropean Heart Journal

When the exposure causes selection bias: understanding why risk factors attenuate in secondary as compared with primary prevention and what to do about it

Original ResearchACC Journal Scan Highlight

AUG 1FarahJACC Advances

Genetic Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among People With No Standard Modifiable Risk Factors

13w agoOpen Access

ACC Journal Scan Highlight

FarahJACC Advances

Genetic Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among People With No Standard Modifiable Risk Factors

Paul Ridker

Director, Center for CV Prevention, Brigham and Women's · Brigham and Women's Hospital

This dose-finding data will also inform the design of a hard outcomes trial to test the hypothesis that IL-6-lowering will reduce cardiovascular event rates in patients with chronic kidney disease, which is based upon an observation in an 1800 patient CKD subset of the CANTOS trial.

Inhibition of Interleukin-1β by Canakinumab and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Journal of the American College of CardiologyRidker et al.May 2018