Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Biography

Professor Hennekens is the first Sir Richard Doll Professor of Medicine and Senior Academic Advisor. He was first John Snow and first Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and first Chief of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine (FACPM) and the American College of Cardiology (FACC). Since 2002, Professor Hennekens has been a Special Government Employee (SGE) serving as consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  He serves as chair or member of numerous Data and Safety Monitoring Boards of large-scale randomized trials. As of April 2024, Professor Hennekens is the author/co-author of 993 peer-reviewed publications including 661 original reports, 327 commentaries, reviews and book chapters, and  5 text books. From 1995 to 2005 Professor Hennekens was the third most widely cited medical researcher in the world and five of the top 20 were his former fellows and/or trainees. In 2012, Science Heroes ranked him number 81 in the history of the world for having saved more than 1.1 million lives.  This ranks him ahead of Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, at number 83 and Henry Heimlich, who invented the Heimlich maneuver, at number 103.

Education

• 1959-1960: University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce
• 1963: B.S., Queens College, Magna cum laude
• 1967: M.D., Cornell University Medical College
• 1972: M.P.H., Harvard School of Public Health
• 1973: M.S., Harvard School of Public Health (Epidemiology)
• 1975: Dr.P.H., Harvard School of Public Health (Epidemiology)
• 1996: D.Sc., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, honoris causa,
• 1997: D.Sc., Queens College, The City University of New York, honoris causa

Postdoctoral Training

• 1967-1968: Intern in Medicine, The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
• 1968-1969: Resident, Internal Medicine, The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
• 1969-1971: Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer, Lieutenant Commander, United States Public Health Service, assigned to the Dade County Department of Public Health, Miami, FL
• 1971-1975: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

Work History

• 2013-Present: Adjunct Professor of Family & Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College
• 2004-Present: First Sir Richard Doll Professor & Senior Academic Advisor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, FAU
• 2001-Present: Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
• 2000-Present: Visiting Fellow, Green-Templeton College and Clinical Trial Service and Epidemiology Studies Unit (CTSU), University of Oxford, UK
• 1971-Present: Voluntary Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health as well as Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• 1975-2000: First John Snow Professor of Medicine and First Eugene Braunwald Braunwald Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and First Chief of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Scholarly Activity

Major Interests

• Preventive and Internal Medicine: Research, Clinical, Teaching, and Training
• Epidemiology: Prevention and Treatment of Chronic (especially Cardiovascular and Cancer) and Acute Diseases
• Study Design: Strengths and Limitations of Descriptive and Analytic Studies (Case-Control, Cohort and Randomized Trials)

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

From 2019-2024

• Fiedler B, Fiedler L, DeDonno M, Anago K, de la Cruz L, Luck GR, Hennekens CH: Underutilization of aspirin in patients with advanced colorectal polyps, AJM, 2019 Jan 24. PMID 30684451
• Rubenstein A, Wood SK, Levine RS, Hennekens CH: Alarming trends in mortality from firearms among United States schoolchildren.  AJM, 2019, Aug:132(8): 992-994 PMID: 31164193
• Levine RS, Mejia MC, Salemi JL, Gonzalez SJ, Aliyu MH, Hussaini BA, Zoorob RJ, Hennekens CH. A descriptive study of racial inequalities in mortality from hepatocellular cancer before and after licensure of lifesaving drugs for hepatitis C virus in the United States Lancet,  EClinical Medicine. 2020. Published online ahead of print on April 30.
• Acharya A, Glurich I, Hetzel S, Kim KY, Tattersall M, Hansen K, Lemanske R, DeMets DL, Hennekens CH. Correlation between Oral Health and Systemic Inflammation (COHESION): randomized pilot trial of a plaque-identifying toothpaste. AJM, 2020 Feb 24 [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 32105658
• Andreotti F, Crea F, Patti G, Shoulders C, Navarese EP, Robishaw J, Maseri A, Hennekens CH: Family history in first degree relatives of patients with premature cardiovascular disease. Int J Card, 2021, published online ahead of print,  March 23
• Kim K, Hennekens CH, Martinez L, Gaziano JM, Pfeffer, MA, Biglione B, Gitin A, McCabe JB, Cook, TD, DeMets DL, Wood SK. Updates on aspirin in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease create new clinical challenges BMJ Family Med & Comm Health, 2022, published online ahead of print on January 5
• DeDonno MA, Ferris AH, Molnar A, Haire HM, Sule SS, Hennekens CH, Wood SK. Perceptions, coping strategies and mental health of residents during COVID-19. SMJ 2022, published online ahead of print
• Termei O, Fiedler L, Martinez L, Foster J, Perumareddi P, Levine RS, Hennekens CH. Alarming trends in mortality from alcoholic cirrhosis in the United States. AJM, 2022, published online ahead of print in September
• Hecht EM, Rabil A, Martinez Steele E, Ware D, Hennekens CH: Ultra-processed food consumption and mental health symptoms in United States adults, Pub H Nut, 2022,published online head of print October
• Hennekens CH,  Mitchell J, Dumpa M, Maki DG, DiCorcia M,  Levine RS, Mejia M. Emerging data on COVID-19 create urgent challenges for health providers:  New vaccine and paxlovid.   JNMA, 2024, published online ahead of print in January

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Awards and Honors

• On 2013 he received the Fries Prize for Improving Global Health from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• In 2014, he received the Ochsner Award from the American College of Chest Physicians for reducing premature deaths due to cigarette smoking.
• In 2014, he was inducted into the Queens College Athletic Hall of Fame.  He is the only male graduate among over 1 million  inducted into both the Achievement and Athletic Halls of Fame.
• In 2015, the baseball stadium at Queens College was named Hennekens Stadium in perpetuity.
• In 2016, the New England Journal of Medicine cited his 1997 original manuscript on aspirin, inflammation, and coronary heart disease as their most influential paper of the last 20 years
• In 2018 he was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship in the International Academy of Cardiology for lifetime achievements.
• In 2019 and 2023 he was given the Honor Your Doctor Award by the Rotary Club of Downtown Boca.
• In 2020 he was elected to the Royal Society of Medicine.

Major Committee Assignments

• 2014-2020 Member, Conflict of Interest Committee, Division of Research, FAU
• 2015-2019 Member, Intercollegiate Athletics Committee (IAC). FAU
• 2015-2016 Member Scientific Executive Committee of the International Academy of Cardiology
• 2015-2019 Member, Student-Athlete Well Being Subcommittee of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, FAU
• 2015-2019 Member, Academic Integrity Subcommittee of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, FAU
• 2016-2021 Chair, Preventive Medicine Residency Research Oversight Committee, (RROC), Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Palm Beach County Health Department and Nova Southeastern University
• 2017-2020 Member, Board of Advisors, International Center for Emergency Management, FAU
• 2017-2020 Member, Subcommittee on Academic Programs, International Center for Emergency Management, FAU
• 2017- Member, Athletic Alumni Advisory Board, Queens College
• 2017-2019 COM representative, Steering Committee, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) initiative, Division of Research, FAU
• 2017-2022 Member, Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education Research Committee, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, FAU
• 2018- Member, Organizing Committee, I Am Hillel
• 2019- Member, Advisory Board, Wei-Bridge
• 2020- Member, Promotions and Tenure Committee, College of Medicine, FAU
• 2021- Member, Advisory Committee, International Parkour Federation
• 2022-2023 Interim Chair, Department of Population Health and Social Medicine, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medcine, FAU
• 2024 Member, Search Committee, Dean, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, FAU

Teaching Experience

• 2018 Faculty: Training future members of Independent Data Monitoring Committees, Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health
• 2018 Invited Speaker, Journal Club, American Medical Student Association, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, FAU
• 2019 Member, Planning Committee, International Academy of Cardiology Meeting
• 2020 Roundtable Speaker and Panelist, FIU Conference on Fellowships and Career Planning
• 2020 Invited speaker:  International Academy of Cardiology Meeting
• 2021- Co-Investigator and Teacher,, Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Professor Kathy Freeman, (PI) Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, FAU
• 2023 OpEd Sun Sentinel, COVID-19

Professional Affiliations

• 1968: Diplomate, National Board of Medical Examiners
• 1968-71: New York Medical License
• 1971: Massachusetts Medical License (33712)
• 1972-78: Florida Medical License (19261)
• 1976: Diplomate, American Board of Preventive Medicine
• 1976: Fellow, American College of Preventive Medicine (FACPM)
• 1981: Fellow, American College of Epidemiology (FACE)
• 1992: Fellow, American College of Angiology (FACA)
• 1995: Fellow, American College of Cardiology (FACC)
• 2002-Present: Florida Medical License (ME 84539)