Wenjie Ma, MBBS, ScD

Wenjie Ma, MBBS, ScD

Dr. Wenjie Ma is an Instructor in Investigator in the CTEU, Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Epidemiology at MGH. Dr. Ma earned her ScD in Epidemiology from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and a dual degree in Economics from Peking University.

Dr. Ma’s research interests include understanding the etiology and examining the role of host-microbiome interaction in inflammation and gastrointestinal diseases such as diverticulitis and colorectal cancer, with the ultimate goal of translating epidemiological findings into clinic and developing effective intervention strategies. Currently, Dr. Ma is supported by American Gastroenterological Association Research Scholar Award to examine the roles that lifestyle/diet and the gut microbiome play in the etiopathogenesis of diverticulitis in racially/ethnically diverse populations within three large prospective cohorts, the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS), the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), and the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) II.

Dr. Ma has previously won the MGH Executive Committee for Research Fund for Medical Discovery Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, American Gastroenterological Association Fellow Abstract Award, EPI/Lifestyle Scott Grundy Fellowship Award for Excellence in Metabolism Research, and EPI/NPAM New Investigator Travel Award from American Heart Association.

Key Publications

Ma W, Wang K, Nguyen LH, Joshi A, Cao Y, Nishihara R, Wu K, Ogino S, Giovannucci EL, Song M, Chan AT. Association of Screening Lower Endoscopy With Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Adults Older Than 75 Years. JAMA Oncol. 2021 Jul 1;7(7):985-992. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.1364.

Ma W, Nguyen LH, Song M, Wang DD, Franzosa EA, Cao Y, Joshi A, Drew DA, Mehta R, Ivey KL, Strate LL, Giovannucci EL, Izard J, Garrett W, Rimm EB, Huttenhower C, Chan AT. Dietary fiber intake, the gut microbiome, and chronic systemic inflammation in a cohort of adult men. Genome Med. 2021 Jun 17;13(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13073-021-00921-y.

Ma W, Jovani M, Liu PH, Nguyen LH, Cao Y, Tam I, Wu K, Giovannucci EL, Strate LL, Chan AT. Association Between Obesity and Weight Change and Risk of Diverticulitis in Women. Gastroenterology. 2018 Jul;155(1):58-66.e4. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.03.057.

Ma W, Jovani M, Nguyen LH, Tabung FK, Song M, Liu PH, Cao Y, Tam I, Wu K, Giovannucci EL, Strate LL, Chan AT. Association Between Inflammatory Diets, Circulating Markers of Inflammation, and Risk of Diverticulitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020 Sep;18(10):2279-2286.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2019.11.011.

Ma W, Nguyen LH, Song M, Jovani M, Liu PH, Cao Y, Tam I, Wu K, Giovannucci EL, Strate LL, Chan AT. Intake of Dietary Fiber, Fruits, and Vegetables and Risk of Diverticulitis. Am J Gastroenterol. 2019 Sep;114(9):1531-1538. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000000363.