Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor’s research focuses primarily on gender differences in chronic diseases and healthy aging. Over 40 years ago, she established the Rancho Bernardo Study (RBS), which remains one of the longest continuously running extramural program funded by the NIH in the United States. RBS continues to provide research training and publications on topics ranging from heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and arthritis, to mental health, memory loss, socio-economic factors related to health, health-related habits, to diverse biologic markers. Dr. Barrett-Connor has led numerous clinical trials related to women’s health – particularly studies of Hormone Replacement Therapy. She currently serves as the co-Principal Investigator for a number of multi-site NIH funded studies, including the Diabetes Prevention Program, the Diabetes Prevention Outcomes Study, MrOs (a study of osteoporosis in men), The T-Trial (investigating testosterone and men’s health), and is a co-investigator on a T-Trial ancillary study, and a study on alcohol and nutrition on cognition and brain structure in aging. Her work has received numerous awards, most recently, the Population Science Award from the American Heart Association (AHA, 2011), the Endocrine Society Mentoring Award (2012), the Women in Epidemiology, Epidemiology and Prevention Mentoring Award (EPI/NPAM, 2013), and the Distinguished Fellowship Award from the International Academy of Cardiology (2013). Dr. Barrett-Connor has published over 1,000 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Until this past year, for 40 years she served as the UC School of Medicine’s Chief of the Division of Epidemiology.

Elizabeth Barrett-Connor’s research concerns healthy aging with a particular focus on gender differences and women's health. Her pioneering work spans many areas including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, memory loss and exogenous and endogenous hormones. She is author of more than 700 publications. Epidemiologic studies of normative aging and diseases of adult life, particularly cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, menopause, memory loss, and lifestyle (diet, exercise, etc.). Both observational/analytic studies of an established cohort (Rancho Bernardo) and clinical trials are ongoing.