Curtis Ellison, MD

Curt is best known for his research on ‘The French Paradox,’ which examines the fact that the French have a high-fat diet and other risk factors, yet have very low rates of coronary heart disease. Research suggests that this may be due to consumption of wine, an important factor in the Mediterranean Diet. Curt is the director of the Institute on Lifestyle and Health at Boston University School of Medicine, which he established in 1994. The Institute researches various aspects of lifestyle, especially the moderate consumption of wine and other alcohol, that relate to the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases. In addition, he is a senior researcher at The Framingham Study, a longitudinal study of risk factors for heart disease and other chronic diseases that began in 1948. He is also principal investigator of a major study evaluating the relation of lifetime non-use, moderate use, or abuse of alcohol to ageing and mortality.