Sponsoring Investigators

Review the list of WHI Sponsoring Investigators by mentorship areas to identify an investigator with appropriate expertise in your area of interest. Some investigators are currently involved with multiple ancillary studies and/or manuscripts and may be unable to devote time to an additional project. Once you have identified a possible collaborator, consult their institutional profile () for additional information. If that information is missing or not current, try contacting their institution or the WHI Help Desk. Please see the WHI Investigator Categories for guidelines and responsibilities of a Sponsoring PI. For sponsoring investigators, if you would like to be added to the list, please complete the following survey: https://surveyhero.com/c/WHImentor

Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Garnet Anderson
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Biomarkers: Early Detection
  • Cancer: Breast, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Ovarian, Prevention, Screening, Survivorship
  • Gynecologic Health: Menopausal Hormone Therapy
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials, Observational Studies, Survival Analysis
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Hoda Anton-Culver
University of California - Irvine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Themistocles (Tim) Assimes
Stanford University School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Christy Avery
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Laura Baker
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity, Multi-domain (Nutrition, Exercise, Cognitive Training, Risk Factor Management)
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Race/Ethnicity
  • Other Areas: Sleep and Cognition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Jennifer Bea
University of Arizona
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Daniel Beavers
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience, Independence
  • Biomarkers: Inflammatory/Cytokines, Lipids, Nutrition
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Prevention
  • Environmental Risk Factors: Air Pollution, Built Environment, Home Environment
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity
  • Musculoskeletal: Body Composition, Bone Health/Fractures, Osteoarthritis, Osteopenia/Osteoperosis, Sarcopenia
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials, Longitudinal Analysis, Meta-Analysis, Observational Studies, Survival Analysis
  • Other Areas: Statistical Approaches (i.e., Bayesian Methods), Methods for Clinical Trials and Observational Studies, Missing Data, Misclassification
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Cara Carty
George Washington University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Jane Cauley
University of Pittsburgh
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Independence
  • Lifestyle
  • Musculoskeletal: Body Composition, Bone Health/Fractures, Osteopenia/Osteoperosis, Sarcopenia
  • Other Areas: Sleep
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Zhao Chen
University of Arizona
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Michele Cote
Wayne State University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Carolyn Crandall
University of California - Los Angeles
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Gynecologic Health: Menopausal Hormone Therapy
  • Musculoskeletal: Bone Health/Fractures, Osteopenia/Osteoperosis
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Chongzhi Di
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Peggye Dilworth
University of North Carolina
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Macarius Donneyong
The Ohio State University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Race/Ethnicity
  • Other Areas: Pharmacoepidemiology, Comparative Effectiveness, Health Services Research
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Charles Eaton
Brown University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Biomarkers: Hormonal, Inflammatory/Cytokines, Lipids, Nutrition
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Heart Failure, Hypertension, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Prevention
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Race/Ethnicity, Rural/Urban
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity, Smoking, Sleep
  • Musculoskeletal: Body Composition, Bone Health/Fractures, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Mark Espeland
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Other Areas: Statistics
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Nora Franceschini
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Lorena Garcia

Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Bernhard Haring
University of Wurzburg
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Laura Harrington

Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Kathleen Hayden
Wake Forest Univ School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Barbara Howard
MedStar Research Institute and Georgetown University
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Karen Johnson
University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Heart Failure, Hypertension, Prevention
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity, Smoking
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Charles Kooperberg
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Genomics/Proteomics/Metabolomics
  • Study Methods: Statistical Genetics
  • Other Areas: High-Dimensional Statistical Methods
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Andrea LaCroix
University of California, San Diego
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience, Independence
  • Biomarkers: Epigenomics, Hormonal, Inflammatory Cytokines, Lipids
  • Cancer: Breast, Colorectal, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Prevention, Screening, Survivorship
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Prevention
  • Gynecologic Health: Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Sexual Dysfunction
  • Lifestyle: Physical Activity, Smoking
  • Musculoskeletal: Bone Health / Fractures, Osteopenia / Osteoporosis, Sarcopenia
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials, Observational Studies, Survival Analysis
  • Other Areas: longevity, healthy survival
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Michael LaMonte
University at Buffalo
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Heart Failure, Hypertension, Prevention
  • Diabetes
  • Lifestyle: Physical Activity, Physical Function, Lifestyle Composite Scores
  • Musculoskeletal: Body Composition, Sarcopenia
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Other Areas: Periodontal Disease, Microbiome
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Marian Limacher
University of Florida College of Medicine
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Clinical Medicine/Cardiology, Prevention, Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Simin Liu
Brown University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Polypharmacy
  • Biomarkers: Discovery Methodologies, Early Detection, Epigenomics, Genomics, Hormone, Immune/Autoimmune, Inflammatory/Cytokines, Lipids, Nutrition
  • Cancer: Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Prevention, Screening/Early Detection
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, Prevention, Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack
  • Diabetes
  • Environmental Risk Factors: Rural/Urban, Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals, Heavy Metals
  • Genomics/Proteomics/Metabolomics
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Juhua Luo
Indiana University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cancer: Breast, Colorectal, Endometrial/Uterine, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Pancreatic, Prevention, Survivorship
  • Diabetes
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity, Smoking
  • Mental/Psychosocial: Depression, Optimism/Pessimism, Social Determinants, Social Support/Social Isolation, Stress
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Tracy Madsen

Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
JoAnn Manson
Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Biomarkers: Hormonal, Inflammatory/Cytokines, Lipids, Nutrition
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology / Risk Prediction, Prevention
  • Diabetes
  • Lifestyle: Physical Activity
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Lisa Martin
George Washington University
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Biomarkers: Lipids
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Clinical Medicine/Cardiology, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Hypertension, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Prevention, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Amy Millen
University at Buffalo
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet
  • Other Areas: Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, etc.
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Michelle Naughton
The Ohio State University
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cancer: Breast, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Survivorship
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Race/Ethnicity, Rural/Urban
  • Mental/Psychosocial: Social Determinants, Social Support/Social Isolation
  • Other Areas: Quality of Life/Patient-Reported Outcomes, Sleep, Urinary Incontinence Measurement
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Marian Neuhouser
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Biomarkers: Lipids, Metabolomics, Nutrition
  • Cancer: Breast, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Prevention, Survivorship
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Mary Jo O'Sullivan
University of Miami
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Heather Ochs-Balcom
University at Buffalo
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Judith Ockene
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cardiovascular Disease
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity
  • Lifestyle
  • Mental/Psychosocial
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Electra Paskett
Ohio State University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Marco Perez
Stanford University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Ulrike Peters
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Ross Prentice
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials, Meta-Analysis, Pooling and Dietary Pattern Analysis, Survival Analysis
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Stephen Rapp
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Alexander Reiner
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Biomarkers: Genomics, Immune/Autoimmune, Inflammatory/Cytokines, Proteomics
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack
  • Genomics/Proteomics/Metabolomics
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Tom Rohan
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cancer: Breast, Colorectal, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction
  • Lifestyle: Smoking
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Jacques Rossouw

Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Gloria Sarto
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Race/ Ethnicity
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Aladdin Shadyab
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Healthy Aging/Resilience, Independence
  • Biomarkers: Early Detection, Epigenomics, Genomics, Proteomics
  • Gynecologic Health: Menarche, Menopause
  • Lifestyle: Physical Activity
  • Musculoskeletal: Osteoarthritis
  • Other Areas: Exceptional longevity, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, cognitive aging
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Sally Shumaker
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Brian Silver

Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Michael Simon
Wayne State University and Karmanos Cancer Center
Sponsors writing proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cancer: Breast, Clinical Medicine/Oncology, Clinical Cancer Genetics, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Survivorship
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Race/Ethnicity
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Sylvia Smoller
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Hypertension, Stroke, CVD risk factors
  • Aging and Cognition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Beverly Snively
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Mental/Psychosocial: Cognitive Function/Dementia, Cognitive Impairment, Psychosocial Comorbidities in Neurological Diseases
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Other Areas: Biostatistics, Genetics, Disease Screening, Influenza and Other Infectious Diseases, Vaccines, Maternal Vaccination
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Marcia Stefanick
Stanford University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Cancer: Breast, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Ovarian, Prevention, Screening, Survivorship
  • Gynecologic Health: Menopausal Hormone Therapy
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials, Observational Studies, Survival Analysis
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity: Gender/Sex/Sexual Orientation, Race.Ethnicity
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Cynthia Thomson
University of Arizona
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Lesley Tinker
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Biomarkers: Lipids, Nutrition
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Hypertension, Prevention
  • Diabetes
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Other Areas: WHI in General
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Linda Van Horn
Northwestern University
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Mara Vitolins
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cancer: Prevention, Survivorship
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Jean Wactawski-Wende
University at Buffalo
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience
  • Biomarkers: Early Detection, Genomics, Hormonal, Inflammatory/Cytokines, Lipids, Metabolomics
  • Cancer: Breast, Colorectal, Endometrial/Uterine, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Lung, Ovarian, Pancreatic, Prevention, Screening/Early Detection, Survivorship
  • Diabetes
  • Environmental Risk Factors: Air Pollution, Built Environment
  • Genomics/Proteomics/Metabolomics
  • Gynecologic Health: Hysterectomy/Oophorectomy, Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Oral Contraceptives, Pregnancy
  • Health Disparities/Health Equity
  • Lifestyle: Physical Activity, Smoking
  • Musculoskeletal: Body Composition, Bone Health/Fractures, Osteopenia/Osteoporosis, Sarcopenia
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
  • Study Methods: Clinical Trials, Longitudinal Analysis, Meta-Analysis, Survival Analysis
  • Other Areas: Oral Health, Microbiome
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Robert Wallace
University of Iowa
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Aging/Gerontology/Geriatrics: Falls, Healthy Aging/Resilience, Independence, Polypharmacy
  • Cancer: Breast, Colorectal, Endometrial/Uterine, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Lung, Pancreatic, Prevention, Screening/Early Detection, Survivorship
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis/Coronary Heart Disease, Epidemiology/Risk Prediction, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Prevention, Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack
  • Lifestyle: Nutrition/Diet, Smoking
  • Mental/Psychosocial: Anxiety, Cognitive Function/Dementia, Depression, Social Determinants, Stress
  • Musculoskeletal: Body Composition, Bone Health/Fractures, Osteoarthritis, Osteopenia/Osteoporosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sarcopenia
  • Obesity/Weight Management/Body Composition
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Gretchen Wells
University of Alabama Medical Center
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
Name, Institution, Sponsorship Role
Eric Whitsel
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Sponsors writing and study proposals
Mentorship Areas
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Epidemiology/Risk Prediction
  • Environmental Risk Factors: Air Pollution, Built Environment, Geographic Information Systems, Noise Pollution, Rural/Urban
  • Genomics/Proteomics/Metabolomics