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. Her research is primarily focused on addressing key challenges in the field of gastrointestinal research including the following: Investigating the role of an interplay between diet and the gut microbiome in chronic inflammation and gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases using a multi-omic approach; Exploring genetic factors that contribute to diverticulitis and their consequences, and evaluating how they interact with lifestyle factors in the context of diverticulitis; Integrating electronic health records and imaging data to predict outcomes in diverticulitis and other gastrointestinal diseases utilizing advanced artificial intelligence techniques.

Projects

Genetic determinants and consequences of diverticulitis: genome-wide and phenome-wide evidence
We are working to understand the pathogenesis of diverticulitis and its genetic associations with other diseases using large-scale electronic health records-linked biobanks.

Gut microbiome composition and metabolic activity in diverticulitis
I have led the MicroN-diverticulitis study to identify alterations in gut microbiome composition and metabolites in diverticulitis

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.