Research & Publications
Before I worked on websites, I was a genetic epidemiologist. Between 1998 and 1999 I co-authored peer-reviewed research on the heritability of lung function, osteoarthritis, age-related hearing loss, and the age of onset of Huntington’s disease.
I trained in anthropology at the University of Chicago and public health at Boston University School of Public Health, then spent roughly seven years as a genetic epidemiologist at Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Most of that work drew on the Framingham Heart Study — the multi-generational cohort study running in Framingham, Massachusetts since 1948, and one of the longest-running population health studies in the world. My part was the genetics: looking for evidence that traits like lung function, osteoarthritis, and hearing loss run in families, and if so, how.
I include this here for two reasons. It’s the most durable public record of my earlier career, and the habits it taught me — asking the right question before you measure anything, and being honest about what the data does and doesn’t show — are the ones I still use.
Publications
MacDonald ME, Vonsattel JP, Shrinidhi J, Couropmitree NN, Cupples LA, Bird ED, Gusella JF, Myers RH. Evidence for the GluR6 gene associated with younger onset age of Huntington’s disease. Neurology. 1999;53(6):1330–1332.
PubMed: 10522893 ↗ · DOI ↗
Gates GA, Couropmitree NN, Myers RH. Genetic associations in age-related hearing thresholds. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. 1999;125(6):654–659.
PubMed: 10367922 ↗
Still cited in hearing-loss genetics research today. (Now published as JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.)
Wilk JB, Premkumar S, Nicolaou M, Myers RH, Maher NE, Harmon MD, Farrer LA, DeStefano AL, Cupples LA, Couropmitree NN. Stratification techniques to explore genotype environment interactions. Genetic Epidemiology. 1999;17(Suppl 1):S761–S766.
PubMed: 10597527 ↗ · DOI ↗
Felson DT, Couropmitree NN, Chaisson CE, Hannan MT, Zhang Y, McAlindon TE, LaValley M, Levy D, Myers RH. Evidence for a Mendelian gene in a segregation analysis of generalized radiographic osteoarthritis: The Framingham Study. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 1998;41(6):1064–1071.
PubMed: 9627016 ↗
Givelber RJ, Couropmitree NN, Gottlieb DJ, Evans JC, Levy D, Myers RH, O’Connor GT. Segregation analysis of pulmonary function among families in The Framingham Study. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 1998;157(5 Pt 1):1445–1451.
PubMed: 9603122 ↗
A full list is available on PubMed. View on PubMed ↗
A note on my name. This work is published under Couropmitree NN, N. N. Couropmitree, and Nat N. Couropmitree. All of these are me.